A lasting legacy from supporter Roger Morgan
Sadly, Roger died in December last year. His lifelong support and fundraising for the charity has made a huge difference over the years.
Roger was diagnosed with MS over forty years ago and quickly set about fundraising to support research into better treatments and care for the MS community with huge determination and care. Roger loved life, and he especially loved sport, having trained as a PT instructor which was to help him with his symptoms. Roger used exercise to resist the impact MS had on his body and adjusted his diet with the help of specialist dietician Dr Raymond Choy, who is credited with helping Roger increase his mobility.
Roger’s fundraising efforts go back to his diagnosis in the 1980s.
At the time, Multiple Sclerosis was not a well-known or understood condition, meaning that the support and knowledge of today was not available. From that point onwards his dedication to fundraising for research into MS knew no limits. He helped set up support groups including the MS healing trust which focused on diet, exercise and outlook. He shared his talents and knowledge with other people affected by MS and encouraged people on their own journeys with the condition.
Roger was driven by the hope that others might enjoy more comfortable lives as a result of his fundraising.
There is no doubt that his determination to fight back against MS and the adjustments he was able to make helped him to complete some amazing tasks – walking 70 miles from Birmingham to London in 1990 and an epic two-mile run, which attracted the attention of newspapers and big names likes Jasper Carrot and Mark Knopfler – all completed with the added difficulty of his symptoms. He also thought outside the box, holding skittles tournament for MS research back when the charity was a clinical unit at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Roger’s fundraising is a great legacy, and we are so thankful for Roger’s amazing contribution towards MS Research. It is also wonderful that his family is continuing his hard work. Nadine has created an in-memory page on Just Giving that people can easily donate to online and she also plans to hold a raffle at Easter (more details to come). In-memory giving allows people to donate to a cause close to a loved one’s heart and can be a lovely way to remember someone.
If you would like to donate to the in-memory page on Just Giving for set up to commemorate Roger please follow this link here.
