Chris Morgan: Life at full throttle

The journey to the starting line can sometimes be the most challenging part of the competition, but for Chris Morgan, it’s all worth it for those ten seconds of pure speed on his adapted Ducati - moments when it feels as though his MS is no longer in the driver’s seat.

Born in Victoria and working as a welder for the majority of his career, Chris’ job has taken him all over Australia, eventually moving to Perth in 2012 with his partner, Ebony. In Perth he found adjusting his lifestyle to suit the nature of the slower, more leisurely pace, didn’t always come easy.

“It’s good and bad! I love Perth, but in Melbourne, you can go out and have a meal at midnight, right? That was the funniest thing, I went to the supermarket on Sunday to buy the food for next week and they were shut,” he laughs.

He had been living in various places across rural Australia, such as Kalgoorlie and Collie but after years on the road Chris found himself a fly-in, fly-out position as a pipe welder on the isolated Barrow Island. In 2013, he was sent home with a double hernia, a prognosis not all that uncommon for a heavy industry. In search of a remedy, he visited a doctor who stated it was just back issues and there was no reason to have additional scans.

With that matter-of-fact diagnosis, Chris returned to welding.

In 2016 I came home again with that same hernia and found a good GP. He looked at me and said, ‘I don't know what’s wrong with you, but there’s something not right’,” he recalls.

By that time, he was finding it difficult to lift his leg high enough to slip into his jeans.

After consulting several doctors, one suggested that Chris should see a neurologist. Not long after, he received the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Being in a labour-intensive industry, it then became dangerous for Chris to still be welding.

“I just couldn’t weld the same way I used to. So, when I was diagnosed and went back to work, I probably should have been having treatment straight away.”

As the job he had been contracted for was reaching its natural end, he then reluctantly gave up welding, which had been his entire working life and formed so much of his identity.

“Your job now is to get your body in the best shape it can be,” Ebony told him once the job was concluded.

After taking some time off, he transitioned to a more office-based, training role in a similar industry, allowing him more time to focus on his other major passion in life, motorbikes, or specifically – Ducati’s.

“I used to ride on the road, and then it got a bit too hard. I dropped a few nice Ducati’s at the traffic lights because I couldn’t get my right leg down good enough, which is expensive and embarrassing,” he states wryly.

Having worked with Ducati Bunbury for several years, in late 2019 he then turned to drag racing. Sometimes going more than 200km/hr and in under ten seconds, it was important to find a solution to how his motorbike could be adapted to his personal MS symptoms.

“My foot pegs are lower. The seat is adapted so I sit in the bike, not on the bike. We run an air shifter, so I don’t shift with my foot, because I can’t. The bike has been designed for me to ride it.”

“I don’t think the competition likes to be beaten by someone that can’t walk properly,” he laughs.

Spending sometimes over 12 hours on the track, it can be an exhausting and overwhelming environment, yet Chris has formed a tight-knit community of support at the raceway and online.

The hardest thing for me is to get to the starting line, and then after that, it’s just 10 seconds where it feels like I don’t have MS.”

Within the community, a video he shared on his Facebook page quickly gained attention, showcasing Chris as a trial participant in the Ottobock Exopulse Mollii Suit – or what he fondly deems his ‘supersuit.’ The suit gives the user ability to control the symptoms of spasticity, and relieve tense, spastic muscles, and the pain that spasticity can cause.

The futuristic, Exopulse Mollii Suit can be used as a therapy by those who may have MS, cerebral palsy, stroke, spinal cord injury, acquired brain injury or other diagnoses that lead to various motor disabilities.

“This might sound funny, but the way it feels is like, imagine being totally naked in the rain, and you can feel every single raindrop. It’s soothing. You can feel it working as soon as they put it on,” admires Chris.

The electro-stimulation treatment is undertaken for around an hour and targets specific muscle groups. The suit has 58 electrodes that combine in various ways to stimulate 40 muscle groups.

“I had a one-hour clinical trial, and I had symptom relief on a sliding scale for 10 to 12 days afterwards. Normally, my calf muscles are tight, [after the suit] everything was nice and free, and my posture was totally different,” Chris explains.

“My partner, when I was standing at the kitchen bench, noticed I was standing tall, with my shoulders back! It just changes everything. To even be able to squat down and pick something up off the ground…It was like I had no MS.”

Once Chris returned home from his trial experience, he noted he was able to walk unassisted from his car to his apartment, a journey for which he would usually rely on a walking stick. Although funding is complicated; he hopes to one day take the suit home for a longer trial.

A strong advocate for life, not limits, Chris continues to live at full throttle. He aims to keep racing across Australia, furthering his advocacy, and hoping to claim the title of the fastest person in the country with MS.

“I race because I love it but if one person sees what I do and it gives them inspiration to do what they love, then that’s pretty cool.”