Portsmouth College Student Honors Mom in Bristol Walk MS

Attending college fulltime, working fulltime, and being a busy 20-year-old didn’t stop Madison Cain from once again leading Team Cain in Walk MS, presented by Biogen, in Bristol on May 3.

Madison’s mother, Robyn Cain of Portsmouth, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2010. Soon after, Madison formed her team for Walk MS and they’ve participated just about every year since.

“I want everybody who hears about the MS Walk to understand that the money raised does go directly to the people who need it,” she said. “We have gotten a lot of work and positivity from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and it’s something that is very appreciated by the families affected by the disease.”

Robyn has relapsing remitting MS and her daughter says that lately her bad days seem more frequent than her good ones. Her mother was diagnosed after decades of telling doctors she was experiencing weakness on her right side and being told it was nothing.

“They would say, ‘you’re so strong on your left side,’” Madison said. “When I was born she couldn’t even hold me on her right side.”

Madison holds a lot of babies as an infant and toddler teacher’s aide at Little Tykes Day Care in East Providence. She’s studying early childhood education and childhood development at the Community College of Rhode Island and plans to graduate next year and become a day care teacher. Eventually she plans to earn her bachelors and masters degrees and have her own day care.

“My mom says I always knew what I wanted to do,” she said. “When I was only three years old I would tell people I wanted to watch their infants and take care of their kids. I had a day care set up in my bedroom and no Barbie’s, only baby dolls.”

Hundreds of walkers turned out in force for Walk MS, presented by Biogen, in Bristol, R.I., on May 3, 2015, raising awareness and money to help people with multiple sclerosis and for research to find a cure.

Walk MS is a fundraising event that fuels the movement to create a world free of multiple sclerosis. Visit www.walkMSgne.org for details.

Photo: Madison Cane, at left, sits with a walker on her team, Brittany Santos, also of Portsmouth, at the Bristol Walk MS. (Photo Courtesy Bristol Walk MS)