About 100 people were at Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park to participate in the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Walk to raise awareness and funds for the cause.
Check in was at 11 a.m. and the walk began at noon. Participants could chose to walk a 2.5 or a 4.5 km route.
Before the walk started several people including sponsors and dignitaries like Mayor Lyn Hall and MLA Shirley Bond welcomed guests while one organizer offered some insight into what it's like to live with the disease, which is currently classified as an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord), according to the Multiple Sclerosis of Canada Society.
Ashley Provencher was diagnosed with MS at the age of 19. It started with numbness in her feet that traveled up to her shoulders in about a week.
"I had just graduated from high school and moved to a big city to expand my life - I was going to go to college," Provencher said. "I was going to do all these wonderful things."
Her ultimate goal was to join the air force.
It took a while to get the diagnosis.
"When I was finally diagnosed with MS I thought I was dying," Provencher said. "I'd never heard of it and had no idea what it was about. I thought that was it, I was going to be in a wheelchair and my life was over. Well, 20 years later - almost, anyway, I'm still walking."
She completed her college education, did not go into the air force but does own her own business now.
Provencher went on to point out that MS is a silent disease and to look at someone with MS, people probably wouldn't know a person had it.
"We are survivors and we are strivers," Provencher said. "Most of us are silent. It's quiet. It's hidden and invisible sometimes."
Provencher chose not to take Western medicine for the symptoms of her disease and found an alternative. She uses medical marijuana and other naturally-based remedies and now through her business called Golden Rays Apothecary & Wellness, offers holistic health services including Reiki to others with health issues.
Through her own practice Provencher has managed the disease and was declared officially in remission from it for the last three years, she said. When she goes into the doctor's office for her annual check up the advice she is given is to keep doing what she's doing, she said. And she's happy with that.
During the event at the park there were about 10 booths set up that offered information about the disease, saw sponsors like MediChair and A&W on hand, while another offered face painting. There was music and live entertainment and the skies didn't fully open up so participants just had to deal with a light sprinkling of rain.
"I want to thank you all for coming to the event," Provencher concluded her talk. "I'm so proud of everybody who's walking."
To donate to the cause visit www.mssociety.ca.
