MS Walk takes place this Sunday in Red Deer

According to MS Canada, MS is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system affecting the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. With Canada having one of the highest rates of MS in the world, the organization says around 90,000 Canadians are currently living with the disease and roughly 12 Canadians are diagnosed with the disease daily.

They add that everyone experiences MS differently, with some symptoms including loss of vision, memory, communication abilities or balance and mobility issues.

For Joseph, she says her symptoms include hyper sensitivity and lack of coordination, particularly on the left side of her body.

On her profile, Joseph says she knew something was wrong when tags on her shirt started to irritate her skin. She would lose balance while walking, felt a continuous tingling in her left arm and increasing exhaustion.

She said while reading to her students one day as a teacher, she found it difficult to move the left side of her face and felt she was slurring her words.

While she described a feeling of relief finally knowing what her diagnosis was, she says the illness has been very exhausting, causing her to leave her teaching profession and experience difficulty with executive functions like organizational skills. She says while she used to be very active, even running in the 10 km Woody’s Marathon Run, she can now only do around 5 km over a longer period of time.

“I always text somebody when I’m going out and I make sure I text them when I get back home so that nobody’s worried about me having collapsed somewhere in the middle of my run because that can happen,” she said.

“The exhaustion is the hardest thing for me because things that didn’t use to take a lot of energy, wipe me out a lot more now.”

She says the MS Walk, which takes place in various cities across the country, is important to help unite the community and encourage those with MS to keep moving.

“That support is so important because nobody likes to feel alone, even if you don’t have MS. So when you do have this illness, it’s nice to know you’re not alone and that there are people out there championing you and supporting you and walking with you,” she said.

With 98 registered participants as of Wednesday, Joseph says they hope to reach 100 by Sunday.

Participants can raise funds solo or as a group to reach a goal of $30,000. Already having reached over $24,000, Joseph has raised more than $2,500 on her own and is ranked third in the city for having raised the most funds.

She says seeing all the people involved, like her friend Lee who cycles in a group to fundraise for the cause, makes her feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that is hard to express into words.

Grace Alyse Sweets in Red Deer has also committed to donating a portion of their red-colored Nanaimo bars to the walk.

Joseph says the funds will go towards research to find the cause of MS so health professionals can then find better treatments and, hopefully one day, a cure.

To register for the run, visit the MS Walk website.

by Alessia Proietti

MS Walk takes place this Sunday in Red Deer

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