Leverett Pedlars

Our team is taking on the MS Brissie to the Bay challenge to push our limits and make a real difference for Queenslanders living with MS and other Neurological conditions.

For three decades now MS Queensland have held the MS Brissie to Bay bike ride or affectionately known as the Ride to Fight MS, an event that shuts down the main streets of Brisbane and thousands of people participate. This year both Zayla and Nixon will also be participating in this amazing event.   

Why are we riding:

In 2019 Maddie was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. MS is the most common acquired chronic neurological disease affecting young adults. In MS, the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacks and damages the fatty material (called myelin) around the nerves. Myelin is important for protecting and insulating nerves so that the electrical messages that the brain sends to the rest of the body, travel quickly and efficiently. This means that the brain cannot talk to other parts of the body, resulting in a range of symptoms that can include a loss of motor function (e.g. walking and hand and arm function, loss of sensation, pain, vision changes and changes to thinking and memory). MS has many symptoms, which can be variable and unpredictable. No two people will experience exactly the same symptoms and these symptoms can be a one-off occurrence, can come and go or change in severity over time, So it is safe to say that some days are good and some are not so good.

MS symptoms can be experienced in different parts of the body, depending on which part of the brain, optic nerve or spinal cord is affected. Some symptoms of MS are invisible, meaning people can’t visibly see that someone is experiencing a symptom. MS Queensland provides care and support services to people living with MS and other neurological conditions. It is because of events such as the Brissie to Bay that MS Queensland is in existence and people living with MS are not facing the devasting impacts of this disease alone. Participating in this event is our way of giving back to this amazing organisation and raising awareness of MS and invisible illnesses in general.

If you have the capacity, we would really appreciate if you could donate to this amazing cause so MS Queensland can continue to enable MS suffers to get the best out of life, can advocate for change and search for a cure.