Meet legendary fundraiser Anne-Maree.
She is already off to an epic start with $4,819.00 raised so far toward $5,000 goal.
Anne-Maree says, “If I reach my fundraising goal, I will raise the bar to $6,000.00 and so on until the 31st of May.”
Anne-Maree is planning to walk 500km in May. I told you she’s legendary!
She does two laps of her local lake every day to get her kilometres up and loves meeting people on her walks to spread the word about her journey with MS and The May 50K.
Anne-Maree was diagnosed at just 32 years of age with two young children. MS is the most common neurological disorder in young adults, often striking right in the prime of life.
For Anne-Maree, it all began with a twitch under her eye. Then, suddenly one morning things got worse.
“One morning I looked in the mirror and half my face had dropped. I panicked because it was so obvious. I went to the doctors and my GP was brilliant.”
He referred her to a specialist who ordered a lumbar puncture – the results indicated multiple sclerosis.
For Anne-Maree, the diagnosis came as a shock.
“You could have just ripped my heart out really.”
“I only knew one person with MS and she died unfortunately at 25 years of age. She, my friend who had the most beautiful soul had the aggressive form. That was my only experience with someone [with MS]. I thought that this was going be my path.”
On occasion and sometimes at length, Anne-Maree can suffer incredible pain caused by her MS.
“I also suffer intermittent attacks of trigeminal neuralgia – basically I have MS lesions on the trigeminal nerve. I can’t eat or drink due to the pain, I can’t even really bring a glass of water to my mouth because even the smell of water makes me feel ill.”
“In the past, I have not been able to walk or talk very well so I have had to be in hospital, 3 days at a time, hooked up to a cortisone drip, to reduce the inflammation and have to rehabilitate over time. As of this day now I’m pretty good.”
Anne-Maree is in bed early and gets up early, eats really well and has reduced her hours at work to help manage her MS.
“I understand that when you are in a lot of pain and you are not mobile that it is hard to keep a moving forward mindset, so I say this in understanding this is not the total answer: You have to keep moving forward and focus outwardly, I had a very ordinary year last year and to be part of something larger than yourself, to join in for the good of others, is some of the best medicine there is out there”.
“The May 50K has helped me to do this and in turn, my fitness has also improved.”
“I am now a grandmother, Nonna, to two beautiful grandsons and I refuse to not be a part of their lives; I want to show them that things are “possible” and that they can call on their own strength in times of need.”
“I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a sister-in-law, a niece, an aunty, a daughter-in-law, a Nonna and a friend, with each of these relationships there is so much I want to be a part of.”
“I am so excited for other people for the possibilities and for new research. Being a bit older whatever happens for me, will be. I just hope for others that there is something out there that can truly help them.”
Anne-Maree is motivated. She’s a fundraising superstar and posts a daily video on Instagram with features from her morning walks – featuring her light-up trekking shoes, standout graffiti walls and highlights she sees around her community.
To her fellow fundraisers, Anne-Maree has a message:
“Good on you. Keep motivated. As a person living with MS, you have my absolute and full support and I congratulate you all.”
We couldn’t say it better ourselves!
Thank you for raising vital funds for MS research so together we can find a future free from MS.
