Red Tulip Walk raises funds for Parkinson’s support
Former face of travel battles condition
SThe family is everything. I just have to keep adjusting my life so I support them in whatever shape or form. Steve Parsons
teve Parsons used to be the face of adventurous travel. His face still lights up when he recounts meeting some of Africa’s Big Five, but these days it’s often his body moving side to side that people notice first.
It is nine years since he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a progressive neurodegenerative condition caused by insufficient quantities of dopamine in the brain.
“It’s crazy, I never knew what Parkinson’s was until 2013 when I had that conversation. It’s a funny old world.”
In April last year, Parsons shared his journey with the Manawatu¯ Guardian to promote Red Tulip Walk, which raises money and awareness for Parkinson’s Manawatu¯.
The most noticeable physical change since that first interview is Parsons’ involuntary side movement. He can stop it if he concentrates but it is hard to do that and deal with this reporter’s questions and the emotions answering them brings to the surface.
Sometimes, he will go to stand up and walk somewhere but he freezes. He has learned a range of techniques to get his mind to tell his body to move — number counting, looking at lines on the floor, and throwing a tennis ball between his hands.
“Weird but true, something just normalises in the brain.”
Stumbling is also something he has to deal with.
“At one stage I said to my daughter that I’m better not to pick up your daughter for fear I might drop her and that’s tough.”
His family is his world — wife Julie, their four children, and 12 grandchildren.
“I’ve got a big family and I don’t like imposing my problems on them because it is a family thing. The children are always asking and as things progress they will step up to the mark and help me as I need more help, but I don’t know what that means yet.”
The 67-year-old takes more than 20 pills a day and sets his watch to let him know when he needs to take his meds.
“The family is everything. I just have to keep adjusting my life so I support them in whatever shape or form.”
He has seen people with
Parkinson’s deteriorate quickly to the stage they can’t drive. “There’s a lot of people out there far worse than I am. I’m quite blessed to be where I am at the moment.”
He sold Stephen Parsons House of Travel in 2019 and now gives back as much as he can through Parkinson’s Manawatu¯, Rotary, New Zealand Poppy Places Trust, and Business Mentors New Zealand.
He attends a boxing programme for people with Parkinson’s and has been part of a singing group to keep his voice going. His challenge is that he does not overextend himself.
Helping businesses and talking about travel stimulate his mind and he hopes all these activities will keep his symptoms in abeyance.
“The journey is ongoing and what I don’t look for is sympathy. I’m leading a normal life with my family. Wherever the pathway goes will be the pathway I’m put on and they will be there to support me.”
Last year, about 80 people took part in the Palmerston North Red
Tulip Walk. Parsons hopes to double that number on Sunday.
While the walk is a fundraiser, it is more about getting people together to wear red and using the good facilities of the shared pathway, he says.
Former All Black fullback Christian Cullen will be the guest walker. He has a friend who has Parkinson’s and will be available for photos and autographs.
There is no cure for Parkinson’s. Parsons says in the silence of conversations he often wonders if someone will find the answers in his lifetime.
Earlier this month, Sir Dave Dobbyn revealed he has Parkinson’s.
Mitre 10 Mega has donated a Weber barbecue, Karcher Cordless Window Vac, Fuller 61-Piece Tool Set, and a BakerStone Pizza Oven Box as spot prizes for Sunday.
Mobility and e-scooters are welcome on the Red Tulip Walk and people can choose from a 5km or 7.5km route.