Since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2014 Jenni Fergus has been taking on life one step at a time, and then another step, and then a few hundred steps, and now 100km worth of steps, and all for a cure.
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Mrs Fergus, along with her husband David, and sister Eileen Fleming are training for the trip of a lifetime, taking on the last 100km leg of the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage in Northern Spain.
The Camino for a Cure walk is being hosted in conjunction with Australia’s Shake it Up Foundation, with all money raised going directly into Australian based research in order to find a cure for the 70,000 Australians living with Parkinson’s, and more importantly the 32 Australians diagnosed every day.
So far team Fergus have raised $3,500 of their $10,000 target, which is being matched dollar for dollar by the Michael J Fox Foundation.
“I have been told to take a hike,” Mrs Fergus said.
“It has actually always been on my bucket list, but then we got an email about the Camino for Cure about a month ago and thought why not go for it.”
While research and medication has come a long way in recent years, recently it has been found that exercise is the most effective way to stave off the symptoms and challenges associated with the world’s most common major movement disorder.
Mrs Fergus is a very active member of the local Movers, Shakers, and Sippers club, who, with a smile and a laugh meet once a week for a gym workout, followed by a social voice box workout in the cafe at Rural Fit.
“After my diagnosis I really got in to exercise and it has done wonders,” Mrs Fergus said.
“Most of the time you can’t see me shaking at all, and that is because of the exercise. Every day I exercise my whole body, and i also exercise my mind, it’s all about thinking, moving and speaking.”
The Tamworth trio will have plenty of time to do all three of those things as they look to conquer the 100km final leg in just five days come September.
“I will just take one step after the other – she’ll be right, we’ll get there – it’s really exciting.”
“We think it is safe to say that most people know someone with Parkinson’s – imagine if we could help find a cure – then I can stop shaking.”
Donations can be made to team Jenny, Dave and Eileens Camino, on the Camino for a Cure Parkinson’s 2018 website.
