Sixteen years ago, North Otter resident Jennifer Bryce woke up “tingly” and discovered she had difficulties swallowing and was slurring her speech.
She thought she was just half asleep at first, but she couldn’t shake it off.
“My husband [Colin] looked at me and said we better get [to] the hospital,” she recalled.
“It was the scariest morning of my life. The whole world felt like it had just stopped.”
A neurologist told her there was a good chance she could have multiple sclerosis and sent her for an MRI, which confirmed she had relapse-remitting MS.
“I was in denial for a few days, well, actually a couple of weeks,” Bryce recalled.
It was just a year after she had her daughter Madissyn, despite being told she couldn’t have children.
“I wanted to see my daughter grow up and do all the fun mother-daughter stuff,” Bryce said.
Madissyn is now 17.
“This year, I get to see her graduate.”
So far, the 51-year-old mom said, she has been doing well.
“I have travelled, I ride my horse, I kayak and dragon boat for the MS Off Balance team in Vancouver, which I love to do with my daughter,” she summarized.
Bruce was featured speaker at the 2024 Fraser Valley MS Walk held in Langley City’s Douglas Park on Sunday, May 26.
This year, the event beat its $37,000 goal, with 179 participants raising $44,560 as of Tuesday, May 28.
Bryce had a personal target of $150, and raised $260.
“It’s been a long road,” for Bryce, who is often asked how she has managed to deal with MS.
“They ask me how I do it, and how I do it as a mom, and a wife, and also an active skate mom as well,” she shared.
So how does she do it?
“One foot in front of the other,” Bryce said, “ and say, I can beat MS, it’s not going to beat me.”
Another participant, MS Society volunteer spokesperson Joanne Craven, has been participating in the MS Walk since 1992.
“I’ve been doing it for years and it’s wonderful,” Craven commented.
“It’s just really beneficial and it’s just a wonderful way to meet people and get involved.”
Craven, who has had MS for 40 years, considers herself to be lucky that she still can walk.
“I don’t walk long distances, but I do walk at home with a walker.”
She noted the walk is one of the major fundraisers for helping with MS research and “trying to find a cause and a cure.”
READ ALSO: VIDEO: Fraser Valley MS Walk raises $30,000
Nationally, the MS Walk campaign this year had, as of Tuesday, raised $3.4 million towards a $4 million target.
The MS Society provides information, support and advocacy to people affected by MS, and funds research to find the cause and cure for the disease.
Visit mssociety.ca or call 1-800-268-7582 for more information.
On June 15, the two-day 2024 MS Bike - Fraser Valley event will get underway at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley at 6975 248th St.
For more information about the bike event, contact kimberley.tobin@mscanada.ca.
READ ALSO: MS Bike ride gets back on the road in Langley