Community Corner
Glen Ellyn resident Angela Loftus raising funds, awareness to help end MS through Walk MS, May 3
Annual walk raises money for research and support of people affected by multiple sclerosis
Angela Loftus of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2004, and on Sunday, May 3, she will take part in Walk MS, the largest annual fundraiser of the National MS Society, Greater Illinois Chapter. She will be walking at the West Suburbs site at Centennial Park, Grand Pavilion, in Naperville (W. Jefferson Ave. VFW Drive). Registration opens at 7:30 a.m., and the walk begins at 9 a.m. The West Suburbs walk — one of 11 Walk MS events statewide — brings people together to celebrate the progress and powerful connections made in the movement to end MS and to raise funds for critical MS research, programs and services.
At the time of her MS diagnosis, Loftus didn’t know much about the disease.
“I didn’t necessarily want to,” she said.
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For a short time, she went into denial and became depressed, but it didn’t last long. Her family wouldn’t let it.
“I laugh that my family is a little pushy, but I’m very blessed to have that in my life,” said Loftus. “They were not going to allow me to sit back and do nothing. I had to do something.”
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Her family quickly mobilized around her and formed a team, the MSketeers, and in May 2004, they participated in their first Walk MS together.
“Honestly, I was nervous to go, but I got there and that really changed everything for me.”
She knew then that Walk MS would always be a part of her life.
“It was completely overwhelming to see the number of people there and the strength that everyone had. I knew there was no going back. I was going to do everything I could to make a difference and to take charge of this for me.”
Last year, more than 12,000 people participated in Walk MS throughout Illinois, raising over $2.7 million for critical MS research, programs and services.
To find out more about Walk MS 2015 or to register or donate online, contact Meghan Melone at 312.423.1138 or at meghan.melone@nmss.org, or visit walkMS.org.
Multiple Sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease that interrupts the flow of information in the central nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. The Greater Illinois Chapter mobilizes people and resources to drive research for a cure and to address the challenges of more than 20,000 individuals in Illinois and 2.3 million worldwide affected by MS.
For more information, visit MSillinois.org.
