Fifer setting up stall in Kinross to sell her MS scans for world awareness day

Designer wants her work to raise awareness of debilitating disease

A Fife woman has designs on using her medical scans to raise awareness of multiple sclerosis.

Kirsty Stevens, a designer from Cupar, is using her MS scans to create designs and raise money for charity.

Through her company Charcot, Ms Stevens turns images of her disease into materials such as pillows and scarves.

She will be setting up shop in Kinross on World Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Day on Wednesday to raise awareness of the condition.

She was diagnosed with MS when she was 21. The debilitating condition can affect the brain and spinal cord.

Average life expectancy is reduced for people with the illness and it is two to three times more likely to occur in women. More than 100,000 people in the UK suffer from the disease, which currently has no cure.

A number of medicinal treatments can be offered and Ms Stevens hopes by showcasing her scans it can make sufferers more aware of their options.

She said: “By selling products using my own MS, I hope that it can put a positive spin on it.

“It’s my aim to use my prints and designs to make MS more publicly recognised. MS is mostly an unseen condition and Charcot makes it visible.

“I want to try to help people to show that the medication available is a good thing.

Charcot is named after the French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot, who discovered the condition in 1868.

Parts of the sales will go to the MS Society, which care for the individuals and families suffering with the condition.

Ms Stevens will be opening her pop-up shop between 11am and 4pm at Loch Leven’s Larder for the world awareness day. She will also be in Dundee tomorrow at Wasps Artists Studios.

Picture: Kim Cessford. ‘Make it visible’: Kirsty Stevens is hoping her art will raise awareness of MS.