WASLEYS resident Ainslee Ey is set to walk 40km this October to raise funds for multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers, in memory of her late mother, Barbara.
The ‘Walk for Barbs’ will involve 18 members, who will trek along the newly-renamed Barossa Trail – formerly the Jack Bobridge Track – to the Barossa Valley.
MS is a chronic neurological disease, affecting more than 2.3 million people worldwide.
The disease causes the immunity system to attack the tissue of the central nervous system, the brain and the spinal cord, damaging nerve signals to parts of the body.
There is no cure and the causes are uncertain.
Ms Ey’s mum, Barbara, was in her late 40s when she was diagnosed with a rare form of MS in 2004.
“Within very short time she was put into a nursing home because we couldn’t care for her anymore; my dad was caring for her at the time,” Ainslee said.
Barbara was just 51 when she was moved into a nursing home, and from that stage ever walked again.
“Everyone’s symptoms are different,” Ainslee said.
“That’s why they call it the snowflake disease because you think they’re normal symptoms, but actually she had lesions throughout her whole brain and spine by the time we found out she had it.
“She couldn’t eat, she had to have a feeding peg.
“Within the last couple of years it was just a very, very horrible thing for her because he couldn’t walk, couldn’t talk, didn’t know who her loved ones were most of the time.
“We liked to think she did (know who we were) at times.
“We’ve always been told with MS, it’s someone with the wobbles or it’s someone who just doesn’t talk very well, but for us it was the most extreme kind of MS you’ve ever seen.”
Following her mum’s passing in September last year, Ainslee was determined to find a way to raise funds to help find a cure.
“When she was first diagnosed she said ‘I’m going to fight this’ and she said to my dad, ‘when something happens I want to donate my brain and my spinal cord to MS research and be the cure’,” she said.
“I decided that if we could do something that we would do it, then it, kind of, snowballed.”
The group has raised just over $5500, and has now set its sights on raising $10,000.
To donate to the campaign, visit kissgoodbyetoms.org/fundraiser/walk-for-barbs