$250,000 raised at 25th annual MS Walk in Ottawa

More than 1,400 people took part in the 25^th annual MS Walk in Ottawa Sunday.

Runners and walkers were able to choose between 2.5km, 5km, or 10km routes along the Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway.

This year’s event raised more than $250,000 in support of multiple sclerosis research and other services. Since the MS walk’s inception in Ottawa in1992 more than $6 million dollars has been raised.

Trina Gallichon, who was diagnosed with MS is September, said she travelled to Ottawa from La Tabatiere, Quebec for the walk.

She said she made the last minute decision to do so after her 18-year-old daughter Cara Robertson, who goes to school in Ottawa, put together a team.

“I decided that I know so many people in this region that here would be a good place to do the walk, raise money, and maybe find a cure,” said Robertson.

Ottawa neurologist and head of the Ottawa Hospital's MS Clinic, Dr. Mark Freedman, said this year marks an exciting time for MS research.

“We’ve finally broken the ice on progressive disease. We’ve never had a treatment for progressive disease and now we will have one hopefully to be used in the next year or so,” Dr. Freedman announced to the crowd before the walk began.

Canada has the highest rates of MS in the world. According to the MS Society of Canada “an estimated 100,000 Canadians are affected by multiple sclerosis. MS is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system.  It is the most common neurological disease of young adults in Canada.”