Stuart makes heartfelt ‘lifeline appeal’ for charity on television
A Peterlee dad living with multiple sclerosis will feature in a nationwide TV appeal for the charity he says has dramatically helped improve his quality of life.
Stuart Wood has lived with MS since he was 27. Now aged 53 he suffers severe pains and numbness in his legs and arms, and sometimes the right side of his body is lifeless, making daily life a struggle.
Tomorrow, Stuart and his family will appear in a Lifeline Appeal on BBC One to help raise awareness of MS and support for the work of the MS Society.
He will talk about the impact MS Society-funded research has had on him.
Stuart faced bladder problems as a result of his MS and it got to the point where he was worried about going out. But through the MS Society he discovered Botox injections that could help.
He said: “Thankfully, through research funded by the charity, I now go to a hospital to get Botox injections in my bladder.
“I go every six months for that, a procedure in theatre. It’s 20 injections in my bladder and it’s dramatically helped me improve my quality of life.
"It’s helped my family when we go out anywhere.”
Stuart appears in the Lifeline Appeal alongside his wife Sharon and daughter Lucy, aged 18, who also found out she has MS when she was just five years old.
She is now on treatment and is managing well, though she lives with bad fatigue and is partially sighted as a result of MS symptoms when she was a child.
The BBC appeal will be presented by Michelinstarred chef Tom Kerridge whose dad was diagnosed with MS when he was six, and sadly died when Tom was just 18.
Over 130,000 people live with MS in the UK.
Dr Sarah Rawlings, Executive Director of Research and External Affairs at the MS Society: "MS is relentless, painful and disabling.
"Our BBC Lifeline Appeal will help us raise vital awareness and much-needed funds. We hope it will also encourage more people to reach out to us and use our services."
It goes out at 1.50pm on BBC One and will be available online for three weeks at BBC One – Lifeline, MS Society.