#GuestPost: taking the MS Society to task (2)

Walking-the-talk; did Patrick manage to walk 1km? #GuestPost

Some of you would have read Patrick Burke's guest post, from the 24th July, when he criticised the MS Society for organizing a sponsored walk with 3 different lengths of 6km, 10km and 20km. Patrick was upset because he cannot walk unaided and it takes him about 45 minutes to walk 1km. He urged them to organise walks of 1km and even 500m, which would allow people like himself to participate. He was upset that the MS Society seemed to be discriminating against people like him, the very people they are meant to be helping. This was particularly galling for him because the MS Society actively recommends exercise for pwMS. 


Patrick, therefore, took it upon himself to walk-the-talk and completed a 1km sponsored walk with Parallel London. By doing this he successfully raised over £1300 for his local MS Cente. Please note it took him 46 minutes to walk 1km, about the same time it takes abled-body people to run 6km or even 10km.

Well done Patrick we are very proud of you and in the process, you have given the MS Society a black-eye and hopefully motivated an army of MSers to take up the challenge. I think we need to set-up an MS Olympics to celebrate what pwMS can do against all the odds.  


If you want to read about Patrick's walk he has done a post on the event on his own website Aid4Disabled.  


Patrick Burke was diagnosed with RRMS in 1995 but believes his symptoms started in 1972. The disease turned into SPMS in about 1999/2000. He was forced to take medical retirement in 2012 and setup the website Aid4Disabled in the same year. The website is the story of his MS since retirement and it describes a wide range of objects that are readily available for disabled people to improve their quality of life. Patrick is also a member of the Barts MS Advisory Group.

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