Crossing the finish line: Meet Jo

Sitting still has never really been my thing. I’ve been a skipper, windsurfing instructor, marathon runner and long-time Bunnings team member. I’ve always been someone who has met life head-on, physically and wholeheartedly. So, when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at just 24 years old, I thought the hardest part would be physical. 

I was wrong.

The hardest part was the mental battle, realising the life I’d always known and loved was slipping away.

I remember the first time I realised something was wrong. While working on a ferry off England’s south coast, I felt like I had a terrible hangover, except I hadn’t had a drink in days. I also had this strange sensation of bobbing up and down. Not unusual on a boat, except ours was secured by heavy chains. But when you’re young and travelling the world, it’s easy to ignore the possibility that anything could be seriously wrong. Eventually, after returning home, my mum urged me to see a doctor and I was finally given the words I had been unable to find myself. 

“You have multiple sclerosis.” 

I pushed it aside. I couldn’t bear the thought of letting a diagnosis define my future, so I mentally packed it away and kept moving forward. Determined to prove to myself that I still could, I decided to start marathon running. Once I could jog 100 yards without falling over, I threw caution to the wind and declared, I’ll run the next London Marathon. And I did. 

For years, life carried on – marathons, work, family and now a slower-paced life in Perth. But after I turned 49, my symptoms worsened. I was exhausted, struggling with brain fog and finding even simple tasks difficult. After nearly 13 years, I had no choice but to leave the job I loved. That same month, I lost my driver’s licence. Losing my job and my licence felt like the ground had disappeared beneath me. I had lost my independence and my freedom. I fell into a hole I simply couldn’t climb out of. I became isolated and miserable by what my life had become. 

After weeks of sitting at home, relief came in the form of a MSWA worker who walked through my front door and asked me a simple question, “Jo, what do you need?” For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could finally look forward. 

With support from MSWA, I began rebuilding my life. They helped me access practical support at home, get to medical appointments and regain independence with my much loved gopher scooter. The biggest turning point came when MSWA connected me with counselling support. I was grieving the life I thought I would have and counselling helped me process my fears and uncertainty that came with living with MS. Slowly, I realised I didn’t have to return to the life I had before. Instead, I could begin building a new one, with different boundaries, different hopes and new ways to move forward.

It doesn’t matter how far you’ve fallen you’ve got to pick yourself up and have the attitude to say, “I can do this.”