When Caroline Craig decided to take part in Walk to Defeat MND Sydney with her friends and family, little did she know just how much support she would receive – they soon found their team growing to around 50 people, and together they have already received over $55,000 in donations before the event this weekend.
“We’re just blown away by the support we’ve received, and are excited to come to the Walk on Sunday,” Caroline said.
“We decided to join the Walk to raise awareness and some money for MND NSW, and while we have a big community support network, we didn’t expect this! You just don’t know how you’ll go until you try it, it’s such a credit to my kids and beautiful friends – everyone has jumped onboard, my family, carers, friends, and now friends of friends – it’s all just snowballed. We’ve got all age groups joining – babies and toddlers, friends of mine and my children – everyone understands what a great cause this is.”
Before she was diagnosed with MND, Caroline Craig and her friends Jenny, Pru and Louie routinely got out and about for a walk, taking on Coastrek and enjoying themselves along the way. They’re all looking forward to coming together for Walk to Defeat MND Sydney for a nice morning out, and to support families facing MND.
“The three of them I walked with always put me up the front to smile and wave to everyone we came across, they called me ‘Miss Congeniality’,” Caroline laughed.
“So we’ve done this walking thing before, the 5km will be a walk in the park for them, but these days it’s enough for me.”
Jenny Pratt signed Team CC up for Walk to Defeat MND Sydney after seeing news of the event, and said Caroline is ‘such a lovely person, she’s well-loved in her community’.
“We loved doing Coastrek together, it was fun! So when we saw Walk to Defeat MND Sydney pop up in the MND NSW newsletter, the four of us had a chat and decided to join it. We had all wanted to do something to support Caroline and MND NSW, so we signed up, and then sent out messages to everyone we knew about Walk to Defeat MND Sydney,” Jenny said.
“It will be so lovely for Caroline to have all those people there, and we’ve been so thrilled to see the donations coming in to raise money for equipment, education and support, all provided by MND NSW who does amazing things.”
This year will be the first Walk to Defeat MND event that Caroline is attending, and she hopes plenty more people in the community will join the event.
“I was diagnosed in April this year, and it feels like every week something changes for my body – but you just have to be prepared and willing to accept the changes and get on with it,” she said.
“Unfortunately it’s a disease where there’s no real hope at the moment, but hopefully the funds raised from these events will lead to better care, research and provide more equipment for those who need it.”
“It will be our first Walk, and who knows what the future holds – we might be back again next year!”
“I believe you need to be kind to yourself and everyone else, so always need to take up the opportunity to go out and have fun when you can, life is too short so you need to make the most of it.”
MND NSW has provided equipment, information, and other assistance Caroline, and she said the support she has received so far was ‘invaluable’.
“I’d just like to say thank you to MND NSW, when I was first diagnosed with MND by Professor Dominic Rowe, he recommended I go home and join up with MND NSW. I was contacted by them right after, they had a Coordinator of Support for me to assist with the NDIS, an MND Advisor, and what they do with FlexEquip is just wonderful. I’ve received the equipment I needed, and if I found it wasn’t quite right for me, it was quick to return it and be provided with something more suitable,” Caroline said.
“Everyone at MND NSW has just been so wonderful, what they do is amazing.”
Caroline feels Walk to Defeat MND is a great way for the community to come together and show their support for families facing MND, and to help MND NSW in providing vital assistance.
“Walk to Defeat MND is a wonderful initiative, likeminded people can come together and meet others with the disease, as well as their carers, support team and more. We’ve already learnt so much from others facing the condition at support groups and other MND NSW events,” Caroline said.
“If you have good care and support to manage the challenges of MND, it makes a real difference – it takes the support of friends and family to navigate MND, and I am so thankful to have such gorgeous people in my life to support me.”
“It’s been so wonderful to see their incredible generosity, and if we can help MND NSW provide some equipment, and to assist with care, it’s very important. There’s such a vast difference in the support someone gets when they are on the NDIS compared to My Aged Care, so if it wasn’t for MND NSW a lot of those people would be in real trouble to manage this disease.”
You can make a real difference in the lives of people facing MND by joining Caroline, her friends and family at Walk to Defeat MND Sydney from 9am Sunday November 8 at Blaxland Riverside Park, Sydney Olympic Park. There’s still time to register online or to donate to those already taking part in the Walk – visit walktodefeatmnd.org.au/sydney to find out more.
