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Herbie and I are taking part a 300 mile charity ride from London to Paris in July 2018 for a charity close to our hearts.

I have secondary progressive MS and we are riding to raise funds for the MS International Federation.

Multiple sclerosis is a condition of the central nervous system which interferes with nerve impulses and can cause a wide range of symptoms, including problems with motor control, fatigue, memory loss and cognitive difficulty and other neurological symptoms. 

Relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) is the most common type of MS, and is characterised by partial or full recovery after attacks, or relapses. This was how my MS began, back in 2003 after the birth of my 3rd child but, as is so often the case it took a further 6 years for an official diagnosis. 

During my hunt for a diagnosis, I continued to work as a firefighter, helped build a house, raised a young family and fought against the symptoms that kept coming back.This is one of the hardest things about living with MS: its unpredictability, where symptom-free periods are followed by debilitating relapses. It’s tough to know what might be around the corner.

By 2009 I was so unwell that I felt I had to step away from the job I loved to protect my colleagues, the people who the fire service are there to help and myself. I had to sit behind a desk, I was devastated.

11 years on and I am still mostly behind a desk but I'm sat on my bike as well, with the help of my wonderful husband Herbie. All these years on I still have MS; it is uncurable but it has now changed from relapsing remitting MS to secondary progressive MS. This type is just as it suggests, there is no periods of recovery, it is there all the time and it will progress further.

I have by no means given up and despite what MS throws at me I really want to keep going and the great support I have around me helps keep me positive.This is why I am doing this challenge. 

I would like to raise  sponsorship so that research can be carried supporting the greatest minds across the globe to find treatments and aid advances into potential cures for my fellow sufferers of MS all over the world.

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