Benefit walk in Dot raises awareness about rare illness MG

A benefit walk held last Saturday (June 11) at Dorchester’s Pope John Paul II Park raised funds and awareness about Myasthenia Gravis (MG), an incurable chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease. Taunton native Brittney Foley, 28, served as the 2016 New England Local Walk Hero in this year’s MGSnowflake Campaign.

Foley recently received her Master’s from Bridgewater State University and her ultimate goal is to be a Medical Social Worker for those newly diagnosed with the illness, which causes weakness of the skeletal muscles in the body.

“When I was diagnosed [in 2009], I was young. MG usually affects people in their mid-40 to 60s so I was one of those rare exceptions,” explains Foley. “I was confused at first. I felt a little alone and didn’t know much about it, but thankfully through the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America and the walk, I found a community that knows what it’s like to walk in my shoes.”

The 2016 MG Walk Snowflake Campaign raises funds for the foundation and works to spread awareness and establish a community for not only those diagnosed, but for their friends and loved ones.

“The handmade snowflakes give you an option to express yourself and your individuality,” said Foley.

“No one person has a similar disease in the way it presents itself or the way you’re medically treated for it. It gives us the opportunity to say even though we are different, we suffer from the same and we all go through the same thing together. Even though we look differently, suffer differently or have different phases medically, we are fighting for one common thing; to find a cure using strength in numbers.”

To learn about the participants in the 2016 MG Walk Snowflake Campaign, please visit mgwalk.org and to learn more about MG and how you can help, please visit myasthenia.org.


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