Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

In 2009, my younger sister, Charlotte was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She was just 29. Ironically, it was MS awareness week.

She was misdiagnosed for a long time before that, suffering symptions ranging from balance, walking and dizziness, chronic fatigue, bladder problems, stiffness and spasms. The list goes on. At that age, she was devastated to learn or to accept the level of disability that would eventually take away her independence. Neurologists think Charlotte had probably been living with MS since she was 21.  It is very difficult to diagnose, especially during the early stages where people have distinct attacks of symptoms which then fade away either partially or completely.

Today Charlotte leads a happy life with her amazing husband and son, however life is a daily battle. My baby sister who was once so lively and active; riding horses, doing sports, dancing to music, now has to endure continuous pain and difficulty, both physically and mentally.

At 39, her MS has recently progressed from relapsing remitting to secondary progressive, which means she has a sustained build-up of disability, completely independent of any relapses.  At this stage of the disease, it rules Charlotte out of any recent ground breaking stem cell re-boot treatments such as HSCT. So we are hoping (wishing) they eventually find a cure for everyone who has the misfortune of living with this demoralising condition.

More than 100,000 people in the UK have MS. It affects almost three times as many women as men. It is a disabling incurable auto-immune disease of the central nervous system, commonly affecting young adults and involving 2.5 million people globally. We don't know the cause and we haven't yet found a cure, but research is progressing.

Anyone who knows me, understands this is quite a challenge, given I can barely swim and despise running. However, I want to push myself to the limits and raise as much money as I can for this very important research charity and aid working towards a future without MS.

Finally, I make no apologies for the photo, Charlotte! (I'm never going to look this slim in a swimsuit again)

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