Local carpenter Peter Fordham made a pledge to himself at the beginning of the year, and so far he’s on track, but could use a community boost to help in reaching his goal.
Fordham was diagnosed in 2013 with multiple sclerosis (MS) and during the fall of 2014 started thinking about ways to fundraise and raise awareness. On Jan. 1, 2015 he made a pledge to himself to try and log 200 days of physical activity in 2015.
Fordham was quick to point out that a leisurely jaunt downtown does not count as a day of physical activity. The avid mountain biker, Nordic skier, climber and hiker will push himself to do more on his bad days than what an average healthy Canadian can muster.
“On days that I can’t do anything, I’ll run five or six kilometres, and then work out for half an hour when I can’t go bike riding, or I can’t go Nordic skiing,” Fordham said.
As of the end of July, Fordham has logged 115 days and has only been taking donations from friends on Facebook; but now that he is over the hump, he feels confident in sharing his goal with the entire community to cheer him on, raise more funding for the MS Society of Canada and raise more awareness.
“I’m over halfway, but I’m seven months down too, I need (to complete) 18 days a month to get me towards my 200 days at the end of the year,” Fordham said.
“I was leery to go too public with this until I kind of figured where I was going to be at and until I had a bit of a track record and be able to say to people, ‘Look, I’m actually doing this and I’m not talking about it, why don’t you jump on and help me out?’ I’ve always enjoyed physical exercise and I guess I’ve thrown down the gauntlet now, so I have to deliver, but that keeps me going for raising money for MS.”
Once Fordham was diagnosed with the disease and started looking into it he found out Canada has the highest rate of any country in the world for MS.
“I’m fortunate, my MS is somewhat dormant, so I can be physically active, and hopefully be able to provide somebody else with MS that isn’t doing as well a little bit of inspiration, a little bit of motivation and keep smiling,” Fordham said.
The medical field is still working towards finding out exactly what causes MS. The disease affects the immune system, attacking the protective sheath (myelin) that covers your nerves. Myelin damage disrupts communication between the brain and the rest of the body.
Ultimately, the nerves themselves may deteriorate. For people located around the equator, MS is virtually unheard of, which leads researchers to believe vitamin D plays a role in the disease.
“They haven’t worked out exactly what it is, but one of the first things they tell you after you’ve been diagnosed is to keep taking vitamin D,” Fordham said. “When I was first diagnosed and saw my specialist he said, ‘If there is such a thing as lucky you’re it, because I’m hoping within the next decade we’ll have a cure.’ Having said that, when you see the debilitation this causes on some people, waiting for a decade is waiting for an eternity.”
To donate to the MS Society of Canada or offer Fordham words of encouragement in reaching his goal, email Fordham at: [email protected] or contact him on Facebook.
