PILGRIMAGE WITH PARKINSON'S 'I'M WALKING WHILE I STILL CAN!'

The Wellingtonian has trekked thousands of kilometres across France

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When Jennifer Andrewes felt a tremor in her left hand, she simply put it down to the stress of working long hours as a communications manager.

“I'd just started a new job with a large team and lots of responsibility, so I thought it was just job-related anxiety,” recalls the 53-year-old.

Jennifer's GP prescribed beta blockers, which she took for a year. But when they didn't help, the mother of three was referred to a neurologist, who diagnosed her with a case of early-onset Parkinson's disease, an incurable degenerative brain condition that affects muscle control.

“I always thought Parkinson's was an old man's disease!” she admits. “But around five to 15% of people with Parkinson's develop it before the age of 50.”

What shocked Jennifer was the information that she probably only had five years of able-bodied movement left.

That was in 2020, but the plucky Wellingtonian has proved doctors wrong, walking thousands of kilometres across France since her diagnosis.

“I'm on 15 pills a day and know that one day I won't be able to walk. But while I can, exercise is actually great for Parkinson's because although the tremor is still there, when I’m walking, things such as muscle fatigue, brain fog and headaches fall by the wayside.”