My Auntie Susan has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She has really bad MS....

Susan was the life and soul of the party, my fun loving Auntie who lived life to the full. A BT engineer from the age of 18 she climbed telephone poles and enjoyed everything about living. Until she started fainting and blacking out at 30. Following weeks of tests at the hospital she was diagnosed with MS. MS is a condition of the central nervous system (causes pain in muscles, nerves, joints, sensory changes, bladder and bowel issues, limited mobility, speech problems, shakes, memory loss, mood swings, muscle spasms). It also affects your immune system and the Summer can make the symptons worse.

Within a short period of time Susan was unable to walk unaided, had to move back home with my Nan and within a year was confined to a wheelchair. She had to have help to shower, eat, get in and out of bed and go to the toilet.  Her symptons progressed quickly and various treatments didnt help. The cause is unknown and there is no cure for this.

Susan managed to cope, attended various courses and group sessions where she was able to meet like minded people, and she moved into her own assisted warden flat last year where she had fantastic facilities and was well cared for. She spent time with friends and family and life seemed a little more cheerful for her.

However, Susan suffered a stroke last summer, no one knows if MS caused it and she was in critical condition for a period of days, and spent weeks after in hospital learning to eat again and regaining her strength. My Nan is 79 years old and spent her time back and forth at the hospital taking care of her. Susan unfortunately lost her speech and was only able to communicate with noises and hand movevements. She had also forgotten she was unable to walk as her brain and memory was affected badly. She has become almost childlike.

She now also suffers from dementia, mood swings, epelyptic fits and her conditions are likely to get worse. Seeing someone you love and care for going through such a trauma is heart breaking. My poor Nan lives with Sue and its also taking its toll on her. There are so many sufferers out there and this not only affects the MS patient but also friends and family. So please please help me to raise some well needed funds so that the MS Society can continue to provide treatments and services to those who need it and carry on with further research. I know there are many charities just as deserving as this one, but this one is very close to my heart.

I feel lucky to be fit and healthy, being able to walk is something we take for granted, being able to talk too so I want to put my love of running to good use and raise some money! Thank you so much for your support. I know it won't be an easy 26.2 miles but every step I take will be well worth it if I can raise just a little money to help people out just  like my Auntie Susan, thanks as always and much love Txx