A mother’s love is a force like no other. We feel their unconditional love and resilience and they feel our joy, happiness, and pain like it’s their own. It can be as simple as sharing excitement for our first day at school, or as significant as feeling our pain in life-changing moments. When Narelle’s son Nathan was diagnosed with MS at only 17 years old late last year, Narelle’s entire world got turned upside down.
“I was shellshocked! As a parent you want to be able to take pain away from your child, and this has been the toughest part of the journey, that we as parents, can do nothing to stop what is happening to our son.”
Nathan’s symptoms included memory loss, hallucinations, extreme fatigue, and lack of balance, caused by 20 lesions on his brain. It was just one week before sitting his year 12 exams last year, when Nathan found out about his diagnosis.
It was a very challenging time. “Getting our heads around what MS is, and what it meant for Nathan’s future was difficult and we’re still not there,” says Narelle.
Nathan and his family are still adjusting and navigating through the challenges that have come with his diagnosis, but they have also found new strength and support in their family unit.
“My mum is one of the biggest reasons I am able to keep going today and become a better version of myself,” Nathan explains. “Whether it is taking me for drives, talking about my emotions, planning my diet meals or helping me to look for the positives in life.”
When news of his diagnosis started to spread, Nathan’s support network only became stronger. His friends, key teachers and amazing support crew of medical practitioners went above and beyond helping him to navigate through his diagnosis. Since then, Nathan has been undergoing monthly infusions and testing to manage his symptoms.
This year, Narelle and Nathan made a conscious decision to sign up to The May 50K as part of accepting the diagnosis and moving forward. They registered to raise awareness and funds for MS research in hope of new and improved medication.
Together, the mother-son duo have raised an outstanding $6,734 for life-changing MS research already, and logged over 182km to help leave MS behind. Thanks to research, both Nathan and Narelle are keeping an optimistic mindset and are hopeful for a future in which we can Kiss Goodbye to MS once and for all.
You can check out their fundraising page here.
Thanks to Narelle, Nathan and over 35,500 other The May 50K participants, we’ve already raised over $5 million to leave MS where it belongs behind us. Thank you!
Find out more about The May 50K here.
