The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Flower show f or mother On Sunday, May 9, why flot treat your mom to a few flowers in a natural setting, ratiser than a vase? Crawford Lake Conservation Area ia holding a "Wildflower Walk for Mom" frors 1 p.m. through 3 p.m. There will be a guided ýwalk along the trails of Crawford Lake, afler whics mots- ers can enjoy a complimentary cup of Natureas Tea. Cost for tise event is $7 per adult and $5 for seniors and students. Organizers ask tisai people pre-register by calling 854-0234. The Canadian Champion, Frlday, Apdl 30,1999 - 3 Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Lînda Shepherd bas Iearned ta lve wlth muscular scierosis wlth the Iavlng help of husband Mîke and sons, from leff, Jeif and JIm. 'Quietly, she battes - a shadowy opponent By IRENE GENTLE The Champion A t the age of 17, Milton's Linda Shepherd was not 1 worried about her high school prom. She was worried about wallcng. A puzzling numibness had recently crept tbmough the left side of ber body so that ai times she couldn't feel her legs ai ail. Findmng the cause was too often ham- pered by sensation that would suddenly tiare back into being. During those good peniods, neurological tests would be dropped. They'd resumne once the disconcerting niumbness made a comneback. "Wben I was walking I would have to see my legs moving because I wouldn't feel them," said Ms Shepherd. Eventually she was diagnosed witb Multiple Scierosis, the neurological disor- der tisat ati us worst can cause lost vision and lost mobility. Seventeen years later, she spenda much of ber tine making like a stumble is really just a stumble. That's because few of ber acquaintances even know sise bas MS. "I can have troubles walking but if I stumble, it's just, oh, 1 did tisai," she said. 1I don't like people to think 'there's ber MS kicking in."' That doesn't stop Ms Shepherd from leaping oui of tise closet ai MS fundraisers. In fact, ber family gets in tise act. Just recently, ber husband Michael managed to raise more than $3,000 during Mîlton's annual MS walk. The whole family took part, including Ms Shepherd. "I like to keep quiet. inm flot showy," she said. "But I like to do my part" According to the MS Society of Canada, approximately 50,000 Canadians are afflicted with MS. Most are diagnosed between ages 20-40. Though MS ba s been recognized since the 1 860s, there are stilI many mysteries surrounding it. Today, many researchers believe it is an auto-immune disease. It is definitely a non-fatal disease of tise brain and spinal cord. Symptoms arise when the body begins to attack myelin, the protective coating sur- mounding tse central nervous system. Most often, myelin bas been compared e see CAUSE an page 14