WESTFIELD (WWLP) – Julie Bourdeau described herself as a fighter.
A title she was forced to take on three years ago, when she opened her eyes one day, and realized her sight had vanished. “I lost vision in my left eye completely, I couldn’t see. I didn’t know if it was coming back. They thought it was tumor at first, but I was pretty lucky to realize it was MS. It’s sad to say that that’s lucky, but a brain tumor could have been much worse,” she said.
Bourdeau was one of hundreds of people in Westfield this weekend to support the National MS society, and work towards a cure.
More than 500 people came to Stanley Park on Saturday to raise money and awareness for multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease that impacts every individual differently, and at times, can be debilitating.
The symptoms of MS can range from overwhelming fatigue and cognitive changes, to numbness and vision difficulties.
Kim Mierzejewski said she was diagnosed with MS 10 years ago, and has struggled with cognitive and vision symptoms ever since.
“The vision problem was even just driving for six, eight months, I wasn’t even able to drive,” she said.
Despite the challenges, Mierzejewski says she’ll never stop fighting for a cure.
“You’re talking about a very independent individual who did anything she wanted, and this disease does limit me, so having this walk, having the research being done, we want a cure,” she said.
