I had little idea what Multiple Sclerosis was when I first heard the words two decades ago. My parents then tried to explain and simplify the disease to a 10 year old me with the statement that one day my mum would be in a wheelchair. Full understanding of the ramifications of the disease for our lives came a lot later and acceptance…I’m not sure that’s happened yet!

One of the first and most visible changes to our lives were the appearance of walking sticks, which mum never much liked. In part, I think this was because she never wanted to be seen as ‘disabled’ and this refusal to let the condition control her life has always been an inspiration to me. This rejection of the limitations her disease might put on her has continued to this day.

One of the many things I’ve inherited from my mum is also the need to be active. Since her diagnosis this has continued to be something we share, although the range of activities she has taken up is quite astonishing. Over the last decade mum has been on a constant 6-12 month cycle with her specialists finding new activities to try out before they tell her the reasons she should no longer continue doing because of her MS. The most recent of these has been Nordic Pole Walking, which we’re expecting doctor’s to recommend her to stop doing in the next couple of months.

Less the elephant in the room and more the thing quietly waiting in the shadows, the fact remains that mum does have MS and it’s not going to get better. I can’t help but worry about how the next decade or two is going to go for mum, especially since my daughter was born as I want her to know just what an amazing woman her ‘Noni’ is.

It’s thanks to my mum’s inability to sit still that I’m even planning to ride the London-Surry 100 and it’s for her that I’m raising money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. I want to help my mum and the 14 people a day that are diagnosed with the condition like her to continue to fight MS.

If you’d like to support me in raising money to help beat MS, you can donate here. If not, then thanks for reading this far at least.