Back in September, a group of friends took on a gruelling canoe challenge in the Lake District, raising nearly £4,000 to support the MS Trust's vital work. Here, supporter Caroline Horton writes about the inspiration behind the challenge and the sense of achievement she felt after completing it.
This year’s MS Awareness week in April marked my two year anniversary of being diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS. My best friend who was by my side during diagnosis decided we should try to do something positive this year, something challenging to work towards, and we came up with the idea of doing a sponsored canoe.
On September 1st, myself along with 23 of my wonderful friends canoed the 9-mile length of Ullswater in the Lake District from Pooley Bridge to Glenridding Spit to raise funds for the MS Trust.
The sense of achievement on completing the challenge in just under three hours was immense. I’ll remember it forever and will be something I’ll always feel good about doing, especially if my health and mobility deteriorates.
Since diagnosis I’ve found exercising more difficult, mostly due to fatigue (and my natural laziness!) so having this gruelling challenge ahead of me was really daunting. Feeling the support of my friends and family on the day kept me going and it’s their support that gets me through the toughest of days when the MS is really affecting me.
The sense of achievement on completing the challenge in just under three hours was immense. I’ll remember it forever and will be something I’ll always feel good about doing, especially if my health and mobility deteriorates.
When I was first diagnosed, everything was overwhelming and daunting, I found the MS Trust website helped me understand the disease better and to choose a disease-modifying drug. I’ve been on Copaxone for two years now and have had a recent scan showing no new activity or increased lesion count.
Doing this canoe challenge has encouraged me to get out there and seize the day more; diagnosis has made me want to experience everything I possibly can to the full and I’m looking forward to setting myself more challenges in the future.
