Starting a new chapter in MS awareness...

A MOTHER living with multiple sclerosis insists there should be more awareness of hidden disabilities so that people with conditions like hers do not feel stigmatised.

- BY CILLIAN SHERLOCK

Louise Power from Ballina, Co Mayo, was diagnosed with MS 10 years ago following the birth of her second child, though her symptoms began years earlier.

Fatigue, pain and muscle weakness, as well as muscle spasms and brain fog, are among the ailments she experiences and she sometimes needs a walking aid for mobility.

The mother-of-two is driving a fresh awareness of the condition through the MS Readathon, decades after she first embraced the campaign as a child.

Ms Power is encouraging families, schools, book clubs, workplaces and groups of all ages to get on board and support the initiative, which runs from November 1 to December 15.

Louise said: “I participated in the MS Readathon in school in the early 90s.

“I had no idea what MS was at the time, but I was really driven by the idea that my reading and raising money would help someone else out there.