BILLINGS – About 1 million adults have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system.
Saturday in Billings, hundreds came together for Walk MS to raise money for research and support of those suffering from MS.
About 700 people walked on courses of one and three miles that started and finished at St. John’s United.
The Wall of Hope is a banner that family and friends signed with love and support for loved ones suffering from MS.
The banner will be hung at different MS events.
“I’ve lived with MS since 1987,” said Lora Waid, a facilitator for support and part of the Montana Community Council for MS. “And they started the wall of hope in the late ’80s. It’s just great the next year to go back and see a lot of the repeat people to come out and walk and support us. It’s one of those things you’ve got to visualize, or see it and experience it to realize how the community is really behind us.”
“That’s one of the messages for all of us living with MS,” she said. “There’s so much hope out there. We’re never alone but when you experience (the walk) and see there are 700 people out there walking for you and for me today. That’s a tremendous boost of hope for us.”
The walk is also about awareness.
“We’re still an active part of the community,” Waid said. “We have limitations. But we just figure a new way out to do something. And that’s why the wall of hope. There’s nothing that you should say is out of your limits. Never give up hope on whatever you’re doing. Never give up hope.”
The Billings Walk MS with 700 is the biggest and first of four in Montana.
On May 4, Walk MS is in Bozeman, followed by Great Falls on May 11 and Missoula on May 18.
Reporting by David Jay for MTN News
