Meet superstar fundraiser Heather! 
She’s back for The May 50K this year following a stellar 2022, raising an incredible $5,389 for MS research. I told you she’s a fundraising superstar!
Heather says, “I think for me it’s really about raising awareness and raising as much money as possible to help research and support people who are living and breathing with MS like me.”
Heather was diagnosed with MS in 2021.
“Mine all happened very quicky although I probably had MS symptoms for years without realising it was MS. The big thing that happened for me is one day I went to work and talking to one of my colleagues and said ‘I can’t feel my hand. I think I’ve pinched a nerve.’ He said, ‘Go to hospital you might be having a stroke.’”
“I ended up ringing the Health Direct line and talking to a lady there and she said, ‘No you’re definitely not having a stroke just go to your doctor within 24-48 hours.”
It was tricky to get an appointment that quickly though.
“I went to my doctor about five days later. She was incredible.”
“By the time I went to my doctor I had no feeling in both my hands, my right side and my legs, and my feet were tingling. I was also having random feelings needing to itch my stomach, which brought on a burning sensation, and my lips were tingling. A lot had happened in five days.”
Her doctor quickly referred her to a neurologist and she was seen the same day.
He suspected multiple sclerosis and sent Heather for an MRI, lumbar puncture and blood tests.
“I had 12 lesions.”
“It did come as a shock because I was in such denial thinking I’ve just got a pinched nerve. I try to have a positive mindset though.”
Heather lives with numbness in her legs, pins and needles in her feet and weakness in her right hand. She also experiences visual disturbances, weakness in her legs and fatigue.
“I think the people fundraising who don’t know someone with MS, it would be awesome for them to understand what people living with MS go through.”
“Thank you to everyone who has gone out and raised money and awareness into MS research. It will benefit people like me and people living day in day out with MS. Its not just people with MS, its for their families and carers as well.”
“I 100% believe there will be a cure in my lifetime.”
“You have to have hope. You have to be positive and look at the brighter side.”
