In 1966, Kelly Broome’s grandmother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She battled the debilitating disease for the next 40 years, hoping for a cure.
Broome, a Newmarket councillor, participated in the Mandarin Walk for MS on Sunday in her grandmother’s memory.
“I love to see how far we’ve come,” she told the crowd gathered at Newmarket’s Riverwalk Commons on May 6, “but here we are walking today, and we’re still looking for a cure.”
The Newmarket walk was one of 54 fundraising walks being held in Ontario this year, to benefit the MS Society of Canada.
The funds raised support research and services for the approximately 1 in 340 Canadians living with MS. Some of the money will stay in the community, to provide services for those impacted by MS, from counselling, to assistive equipment. Other funds will go to support advocacy efforts and research into the causes and treatments.
MS can cause numbness, loss of balance, muscle weakness, difficulty communicating, loss of vision, and loss of mobility.
Jennifer Perenthesis was diagnosed with MS in 2016. She was at the Newmarket event with her family and team of supporters.
Many of those walking also had a personal connection to MS.
About 1,000 people participated in the event Sunday and, so far, $50,000 has been raised of its $80,000 goal.
