What Does Monsterski4 Mean To Me?

When I first heard about Monsterski4 after joining Twitter, I was amazed. I had no idea people put themselves through such physical hardship, even if they love skiing, to raise money for charity. It makes me proud of the team for stepping forward and making the conscious decision to go to such lengths to help the MS Trust, and subsequently MSers as a whole, by raising money in this way. It could be all too easy to raise money in a less challenging way (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!) but I feel the challenge of skiing 5 Everests in 5 days metaphorically represents the challenge that is life with MS.
 
It’s rather difficult to express what Monsterski4 means to me (although I’ll give it my best shot!) even if I know how it makes me feel. The emotions are difficult to translate to the written word: I’m humbled, proud and quite frankly astounded that the Mosterski4 team push themselves this far to raise money. I’m also very grateful: the MS Trust provides a fabulous service for people with MS and their families and friends, and without fundraisers like the Monsterski4 team and others, it would be much more difficult for the MS Trust to provide the services it does.

In many ways, MS is a ‘silent’ condition – there are few outward signs other than walking with difficulty or using a wheelchair or walking stick – and as such is a very much forgotten disease. It is often little thought about except by those it affects and those who know people with MS. Therefore, it’s humbling that people who don’t have MS would support Mike in Monsterski4 and push themselves to such extremes to benefit the MS Trust. In the harsh world that we now live, the team must be praised for their generosity, selflessness and travail. Although it’s not all bad: they do enjoy skiing too!

I must also confess to a certain amount of envy: I’d love to be physically able to ski 5 Everests in 5 days, but I’d also love to be able to ski in the first place! Something I’m not terribly proud to admit to, but I felt I should be as honest as possible.

This article may be about what Monsterski4 means to me, but I feel that Mike deserves a rather large mention. I may not know Mike, but my uncle was in the RAF for many years, and I know what RAF men are made of: strong stuff. It’s testament to Mike as a person that he could rouse this team to push themselves to such extremes and speaks of an extraordinary man: I don’t know many people who’d take on this challenge for charity, even if they do love to ski!

If you take one thing from reading about this challenge, let it be inspiration. Inspiration not only to fundraise, but also inspiration from Mike who battles his MS every step of the way.  And don’t forget to support this fabulous team on their monstrous Monsterski4 challenge!

The best of luck to the Monsterski4 Team!

You can read all about the Monsterski4 challenge and sponsor the team at: http://www.monsterski4.com/ 

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