On the back of MS Awareness Week (March 5-11), Jason Smith decided to share his story.
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It wasn’t an easy story to share and one not commonly told.
Multiple Sclerosis is a condition of the central nervous system, interfering with nerve impulses within the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
It’s a condition less heard about than cancer and heart disease, but equally as important.
There is no cure.
I met Jason before his diagnosis, a keen sportsman, hard working shop owner and family man.
Thirty-seven-year-old Jason was diagnosed with the condition two years ago and is still adjusting to what his future holds.
Last week he walked in a completely different man, he is worried for his future, the future of his family and the burden he believes he has put on his wife and kids. He told me of his daily struggles.
It is hard to imagine going from working full-time, playing two sports a week and being a present father to three children, to struggling to get out of bed on a daily basis due to debilitating fatigue and dizziness.
His doctor recently recommended he use a walking cane at just 37-years-old.
MS holds a person firmly in its grip with many invisible symptoms alongside the ones we can see, but if correctly medicated, symptoms can be managed to a degree.
Jason has been limited to working 15 hours a week by his doctor, but says no one will employ someone just for those hours and with his condition.
More than ever, he and other MS sufferers in our region need our support – the community’s support.
The MS Society in Gunnedah covers the cost of Jason’s medication and specialists to help ease the financial burden.
But someone out there needs to give the man a go. Isn’t it the Aussie way?
What most people won’t realise is that Jason isn’t alone.
There are at least eight people living with MS in Gunnedah that the local society know about.
The society also needs our support to continue helping local people living with the condition. The group is hosting a morning tea at the PCYC on May 31. Throw your support behind a worthy cause.
More than 23,000 people are living with the disease in Australia and more than two million have been diagnosed worldwide.