Ayad Marhoon
In the last year alone, more than 1,250 people under 30 have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). It is the most common progressive neurological condition in young people today.
Ayad Marhoon, 23, lives in Moortown in Leeds. He was diagnosed with MS in 2019.
Although I was diagnosed with relapsing MS there’s still an uncertainty about it because my condition seems to be progressing. I didn’t need a walking stick back then but now I do. I also get a lot of brain fog, which can be tough when studying. We had a phone call recently about exploring new medications to see if any of them might work better, but I don’t know if they will.
Generally, MS does kind of knock your confidence. Before I would have been happy to jump straight into anything but there are a lot of things now where I just can’t. For example, we went on a hike recently and in my mind, I was still able to climb up a mountain – I didn’t realise how much less able I’ve become. There’s a lot of planning ahead and making adaptations to everyday life with MS, and I’m learning to understand what I can and can’t do within my abilities.
I’m still trying to get a better idea of how my future is going to look. I’m an optimistic person and I try not to think about negative scenarios but naturally they’re always there.
Thinking about the future
I’m still trying to get a better idea of how my future is going to look. I’m an optimistic person and I try not to think about negative scenarios but naturally they’re always there. I hope to work as a clinical psychologist one day, but with the rate I’m changing I don’t know what things will be like in five years time. If I didn’t have to worry about MS getting worse that would be a massive weight off my shoulders. It’s difficult to plan ahead with that uncertainty.
Tens of thousands of people with MS still have no treatment to help them as their condition advances. The Stop MS Appeal needs to raise £100 million to find new treatments, so no one needs to worry about their MS getting worse. By 2025, the charity hopes to be in the final stages of testing a range of treatments for everyone with MS.
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