Lend a helping hand — walk for Multiple Sclerosis in Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS – In 2003, Susan Miller’s world was turned upside-down.
She couldn’t work, she lost feeling in one half of her body and she had to re-learn to walk. But after Miller was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis the National MS Society was a support to her.
Multiple sclerosis, commonly called MS, damages the body’s nerves and disrupts the flow of information from the brain to the rest of the body.
“Without them I don’t think I would be where I am today,” she said about the MS Society. Today, Miller is the organizer of the Idaho Falls MS Walk.
The struggle to find stability when walking, stopping tremors, trying to push past fatigue and fighting the symptoms of medications is an ongoing struggle for many people with multiple sclerosis.
Idaho Falls will hold a walk Saturday at Snake River Landing to raise funding for research for the sometimes debilitating and often unpredictable neurological disorder. Registration for the event begins at 9 a.m. and the Walk begins at 10 a.m.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society heads fundraising walks, bike marathons and runs to raise both awareness an funding for research for those with trying to treat the incurable disease.
Amber Mitchell is the development director for the Utah-Southern Idaho Chapter of the National MS Society, a chapter that hosts six MS Walks a year, including the Idaho Falls walk.
“People don’t realize how many people are affected by MS,” Mitchell said. “It really affects families, and connections and they don’t realize how close affected they are by that.”
The Utah-Southern Idaho Chapter had more than 5,000 people participate in the MS Walks this year and will raise an estimated $400,000 for both local resources and national research.
The Idaho Falls MS Walk alone raises an estimated $12,000 annually, as of Aug. 19 only about $1,500 had been raised. Miller said, on average, they have 100 to 150 people participate in the walk. About 86 cents of every dollar goes toward research, Miller said.
The chapter estimates about 49,000 people have MS in Utah and southern Idaho.
Some of the funding stays locally to support resources for people with MS and services available. Some resources include financial assistance for people with MS, scholarships for children with MS or the children of parents with MS, wellness programs and virtual classes people can take online to learn about MS.
Idaho Falls also has a support group for those with MS and their families, Mitchell said.
Miller runs the support group and said in the last two months, she’s had six new women join the group. She said she has also seen more young people join the group.
The MS Society estimates that about 2.3 million people worldwide are affected by MS, but only 330,000 people generally participate in the walks.
Because everyone has different symptoms with MS, the connections made during Walk MS is beneficial for those with the disease and their families, Mitchell said.
Walk MS is the seventh largest fundraising walk in the nation, drawing in about $50 million every year.
“We want to keep fundraising and (have) that amazing the power you feel that when you’re at the walk, you can’t deny the passion (participants have) and they are hooked,” Mitchell said about regular attendees. “It’s kind of infectious and that’s hard not to rally behind.”
For more information on the Idaho Falls Walk MS or information on MS, visit the Utah-Southern Idaho Chapter of the National MS Society’s website, at nationalmssociety.org/Chapters/UTU.
An Idaho Falls support group for people with MS is held at 1 p.m., the second Monday of each month in the basement conference room at Mountain View Hospital, at 2325 Coronado St.
Disclosure notice: Reporter Ruth Brown participated in the Boise Walk MS in 2016.
