Woman shares mom's story to spread multiple sclerosis awareness
FORT LAUDERDALE — When Julie White thinks about her mom Judy Byler, three things come to mind: Light, laughter, and kindness.
"My mom was wonderful, she had a great energy and was filled with positive spirit," White said.
White says her mom was always active. But in her childhood, White remembers realizing something was wrong with her mother's health.
"Her hand was shaking, and she loved her morning coffee, and she couldn't hold her coffee cup," White said. "And every day, her coffee cup just kept falling out of her hand and shattering — I was the one cleaning up the coffee."
Judy knew something was wrong with her health. She went to numerous doctors and eventually, they discovered she had multiple sclerosis, commonly known as MS — a disease that impacts the brain, spine and nerves that affect the central nervous system.
"One time, she just woke up blind," White said. "She could not see anything."
According to the National MS Society, more than one million Americans are living with MS today.
Judy was diagnosed in the 1980s when treatment was limited, and she bravely battled the disease for 23 years.
"She went from being athletic to — I guess the first step was the cane, and then a walker and then a wheelchair and the final five years of her life, she was bed-ridden," White said.
After a courageous battle, Judy died from complications of MS in 2011 at just 63 years old.
Though Julie misses her mom every day, she's made it her life's mission to spread awareness about the disease, and this weekend, she's doing just that by leading a team at the National MS Society's Annual Walk in Fort Lauderdale.
"We have walks all over, 12 within Florida and over 200 in the U.S. so since the walk started, in the late 80s, I believe we've raised over a billion dollars," said White.
Through the walks, the National MA Society researches treatments for this disease that doesn't have a cure.
This Sunday at Holiday Park, Julie will tie up her sneakers and hit the ground in honor of her mother, who taught her the importance of never giving up.
"I do have wonderful memories and one of them being when you fall down, and when a disease or an illness takes you down, you get back up, and you don't start fighting," said White.
The walk kicks off at 8:30 a.m., it's free and you can sign up when you arrive.
There's also another MS walk happening on April 13 in Coral Gables.
For more information, head to NationalMSSociety.org.
