By Angela Brown

N.B. Walk for MS raises spirits and funds for the cause

May 28, 2018 | 5:00 PM

Myrna Head may not look like the typical person with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) but she has been living with the disease since 1995.

She was one of the many participants in the Walk for MS in North Battleford, Sunday.

“I’m on MS medication. I still get really tired, but I still have the ability to walk. That’s a good thing,” she said.

Head added she is in the middle of an exercise program through the MS Society which has been helping. The Edam resident said at times her memory is affected. She also has chronic muscle pain and fatigues easily.  

“I can only walk for so long. Then I have to stop and rest,” she said, while getting ready for the event. “We’ll see how this goes today.” 

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Head walked with her daughter Rhonda Head, a teacher at Cando Community School. They have taken part in MS walks in Saskatoon and North Battleford for the past 19 years in total.

“I used to do the MS walk in Saskatoon but because all of our family are situated around here I decided to come and give back to the Battlefords by being part of the walk here,” Rhonda said. 

Rhonda Head raised just over $2,000 this year for the walk, through support from an online charity she is involved with called Gamers Giving Back.  

She said she hopes to spread awareness about the disease by participating in the event and also wants to support the research to find a cure.

“It breaks my heart,” she said. “I know I can already see people around here who are in wheelchairs or who have a cane. Something like MS seems like such a simple thing because it affects your muscles. But there are a lot of complications, with all the neurons that are firing. It’s expensive research that has to be done.”

Kat Matlock, development assistant with MS Society of Canada, Saskatchewan division, said close to $10,000 was raised from Sunday’s MS walk in North Battleford. While that is lower than the $11,500 goal, she said she expects to see more donations come in later. Funds raised will benefit research and also help support local MS Society programs and services in the province.

“We’ll be accepting donations for a few months,” Matlock said. “We still have prizes we are giving out for donations for the next two weeks.’

About 25 people registered for the local walk, with many additional participants coming on board to take part on the day of the event.

“It seems like we had quite a few walk-ons; I’m guessing 35, almost 40,” Matlock said. “I think the turnout is not bad. We’re definitely almost on par with last year.”

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW