At 57-years-old Sonny Morris is taking on a fitness fundraiser that most men half his age would struggle to complete
A South Belfast father is undertaking a massive fitness challenge to raise funds for a new treatment that could be a game changer for his son’s battle with Multiple sclerosis.
Sonny Morris has dived headfirst into a extremely challenging mission to support his son Connor, who was just 17 when he was diagnosed with the disease.
Sonny is now approaching the half-way mark of the challenge which will see him complete a total of 450km by walking, cycling and swimming over a four-week period. He will walk 150km, cycle 250km and swim 50km during his fundraising journey.
Connor, who turns 30 next month now uses a wheelchair to get around and said he was incredibly humbled by his dad’s determination to fund his treatment. MS is a lifelong neurological condition that affects the central nervous system. The disease occurs when an immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath — a protective fatty layer that insulates the nerves.
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Sonny said: “Every day I am walking 5km, swimming 1.7km which is 68 lengths of the pool and cycling 8.4km. The challenge is 30 days straight with no rest, and it has been far from easy.
“But, I can’t moan about the toll or efforts this is taking, because my son is going through a lot on a daily basis so I am just getting on with it for him. To be honest, this has been a reality check for me.
“My son has struggled every day, and for him, just going to the toilet is a massive effort. He is in high spirits and it hasn’t stopped him living his life and I am so proud of him. His condition is weakening and getting worse so we are wanting to get his treatment because it will help.”
The pair are hoping the challenge raises enough money to fund treatment at a specialist neurorehabilitation clinic. The facility which is named APEX NEURO focuses on goals including restoring function, improving quality of life and increasing independence for individuals with nervous system disorders. The treatment could restore function in Connor’s arm and leg.
Sonny said he is extremely proud of his son who attended university by himself in Bournemouth, works, and is now married to his wife, Skye. Connor has affected mobility down left side of his body, and he is optimistic that the treatment will help him.
“Over the past 13 years I have gone through many different treatments, and struggled both mentally and physically in many different ways,” said Connor.
“Currently, I have difficulty walking and rely on a wheelchair, as the use of my left leg has severely diminished due to the worsening of my symptoms, and my left arm is going the same way. The treatment APEX NEURO offer will hopefully help restore function in both my arm and my leg, and I am so grateful that this opportunity has come my way, and even more so that my family and others are helping raise money to get me there.”
Sonny’s father-in-law, and Connor’s grandfather Mike Moore also suffered with MS during his life. Sonny said he believes the memory of Mike is an inspiration to his son.
“His mum’s dad had MS,” said Sonny.
“He had to use his hands to drive his car about, and unfortunately because of the condition of his MS, his airways gradually narrowed. He was supposed to meet his daughter and grandson for Connor’s first day of school but unfortunately never arrived. “I went past the house, found his car in the drive and went in to check on him but he had passed away during the night. We didn’t expect Connor to get MS because he had no symptoms.
“It was heart breaking because we had already seen the effort and the struggle that my father-in-law went through with the disease . The MS never stopped that man from doing anything, he was involved with so many groups and for him to get out of the house into his car was a lot of of work. “He never had a bad thing to say about anyone or anything. The strength of his character was unbelievable and I say to my son you just need to take a leaf out of your grandfather’s book.”
To find out more about the GoFundMe campaign, click here.
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