People living with MS prepare for charity skydive

Three people from Kent who are living with multiple sclerosis (MS) are planning a sponsored skydive to raise funds for research into the condition.

Maria Ann Laver, Paul Cherrison and Kate Whoriskey, from Gravesham, will each jump out of a plane attached to an instructor, from Headcorn Aerodrome, on 1 June, to raise funds for the MS Society.

The friends met at a water aerobics class in Gravesend, which they said helped them to manage their condition.

Ms Laver said: "We've all been going to this class for so long that we had to take the leap together!"

MS is a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord. It cannot currently be cured, but treatment can often help manage it.

Ms Laver, from Ebbsfleet, said her health deteriorated after she lost the sight in her right eye whilst pregnant.

Falls at work, continued loss of balance and intense fatigue followed before she was diagnosed 15 years later.

She moved to California to research her condition and wrote a book called "MS You Don't Own Me: One Woman's Approach to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis Naturally".

Now back in Kent, she said she attended 40 gym classes every month and had cut saturated fats from her diet.

"It's best to stay active, and not eating meat and dairy means I feel a lot better as it keeps the inflammation down in my body," she added.

Kate Whoriskey, from Gravesend, developed symptoms after a major car crash on the M25, after which followed a year or so of "deep" depression.

She said: "It's such a loss of all the people around you and the activities, but I had to find a way of living the way I do now.

"Coming here to the leisure centre and being in this lovely group of friends is a huge part of my life."

Paul Cherrison, also from Gravesend, described a gradual deterioration.

He had been travelling the world, working on tug boats.

"I was still playing hockey, still playing cricket," he said, but he then found it "really difficult" to do activities like going on holiday with his family.

"I found I couldn't walk," he said.

He believes gym and hydrotherapy sessions have helped to slow the condition's advancement, allowing him to still enjoy a game of golf.

He has also started a five year drug trial to manage his condition.

"This is for people in the future. My children and grandchildren.

"Trials like this are funded in part by charity work from the Multiple Sclerosis Society."

Research such as this a key reason for the trio taking part in June's charity skydive.

"When I was a teenager I remember being in the pub talking to my friend about doing a skydive but I never got around to it," Mr Cherrison said.

"Now I'm doing one and it's a big tick off the bucket list!"

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