A Bolt from the Blue
Over 100,000 people in the UK have Multiple Sclerosis and, when the diagnosis of MS was shared with Kev Shurmer, he thought his life was over, writes Fran Wilkinson
“It was a total bolt from the blue. Immediately my thoughts turned to facing life in a wheelchair,” says Kev, recalling receiving the news. “Everything I expected my future to be was turned upside down in those few words, Kev, you have MS.”
Kev, 50, from Croston, was ‘sports mad’, playing football since he was a small boy for many amateur teams across Preston and the Fylde coast, he was also a keen golfer and loved to spend his spare time walking in the Lake District.
When he started feeling numbness and tingling in his hands it didn’t worry him too much. Kev continues: “One morning the sensation had spread, it was in my legs, through my stomach and up to my chest. I saw my GP and there began a string of tests.”
In 2006, a few months after the numbness started he had that tough diagnosis appointment, aged 39. He explains: “I coped the only way I knew how, to continue strengthening my body. I thought to myself, if I fight it, it won’t get the better of me. I had always considered myself invincible, but MS doesn’t work like that and over the next few years my ability to do the things I loved were cruelly taken from me.”
Eleven years after his diagnosis, Kev can now only manage very short distances with the aid of a crutch and has to take regular naps to manage the associated fatigue. “Not only are scientists yet to find a cure for MS but they also don’t know what causes it,” says Kev. “If they can work out why it happens it would be a giant leap and I knew I had to do my bit. But, without physical ability, how would I go about raising vital funds?”
The answer came in the shape of a rugby ball! A Welsh, Six Nations rugby ball, signed by the entire squad from a good friend who wanted to donate something to the cause so close to Kev’s heart.
Kev smiles: “It occurred to me that if I had all of the Six Nations balls, I could raise some money. But why stop there, there’s football, cricket, golf. The list goes on and from that Balls To MS was born!”
Through word of mouth, a begging bowl and the kindness of others the collection now stands at around 50 balls and other sporting memorabilia, ranging from a Gareth Bale Champions League ball to a Mike Tyson boxing glove, donated by Kev’s boss at Utiligroup, Euxton, where he works as a software test analyst. “I need more balls though, the more balls I have the more funding for research. I’ll also be holding a fund-raising event in October at Bolton Macron’s Stadium, Whites Hotel. All monies raised will be passed to the MS Society UK.”
You can find out more about Balls To MS and how you can get involved by following Kev on Twitter: @BallsToMS and via Facebook by searching: BallsToMS or email: kevshurmer@sky.com
