Stephen Homsey’s Cross-Country Trek for Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

posted on Nov 18 by Guest Author in the Advocacy, Disability News, Multiple Sclerosis category

Stephen Homsey began a cross-country walk for multiple sclerosis (MS) on May 10 in Winchester, Massachusetts just outside of Boston, and that walk is finally coming to an end six months later in San Diego, California. Homsey’s journey is his way of making the most of every day and giving back as much as he can, particularly to people with multiple sclerosis. It’s also part of Homsey’s non-profit organization, Steps for MS, which he founded to help people living with the autoimmune disease and their families. Steps for MS was incorporated in July 2010 with the organization’s goal to raise awareness and money for research and support for MS patients and their families.

“It’s a great cause,” Homsey said. “I’m doing this to raise awareness and funds for MS research and assistance. The people that I’ve come across that have MS are all very positive, very influencing on me and they’re great individuals.”

Homsey’s cross-country trek began exactly two years before his walk began, when he experienced a life-altering accident on May 10, 2009. He fell more than 40 feet off a Boston apartment building and suffered serious injuries ankles and spine that left him immobile for months. His immobility made him realize how much he’d taken for granted and how fragile life is. He spent his downtime researching different things, one of which was multiple sclerosis.

Being physically disabled, albeit temporarily, gave Homsey a glimpse of what it’s like to suddenly lose your mobility and struggle with coping with it. He eventually recovered from his injuries, but he couldn’t forget about the people for whom physical disability is a way of life. As he learned more about the debilitating effects of MS, he became more determined to “make the most out of every day and give back as much as I could.”

Since he was craving the open road, Homsey decided to embark upon a cross-country walk to take in the sights and sounds of cities all across the nation and meet everyone he could. This wouldn’t be just an ordinary walk. This walk would be an opportunity to help and better the lives of the approximately 400,000 MS sufferers in the U.S. The more people Homsey shared his idea with, the more folks wanted to get involved.

Homsey couldn’t get everything organized in time for his original May 2010 start date, so his cross-country trek got pushed back to May 2011. When he did an interview with 3TV in Arizona, he was already on his eighth pair of walking shoes. He said his toughest challenge was getting through the changing climates and elevations as he walked from state to state. It isn’t all toil and hardship, however, as he makes friends everywhere he goes and has been keeping in touch with his girlfriend every day via his cellphone.

Today is his last leg of his long trek, finishing up in San Diego with a map on his website giving real-time tracking reports of his final steps even as this story is being published. On his blog the night before his last day, Homsey wrote: “Pretty excited for tomorrow. It is kind of similar to being on a plane. You are in the final approach awaiting the final 20 minutes than landing (tomorrow).”

Visit his website at steps4ms.org to learn more or donate, and join us in cheering him on for this great journey for a great cause!

Sources:
http://www.azfamily.com/news/health/Man-walking-across-the-country-for-MS-132543158.html
http://steps4ms.org/

Video sources:
http://www.youtube.com/user/stepsforms
http://www.azfamily.com/news/health/Man-walking-across-the-country-for-MS-132543158.html

Image sources:
swtimes.com
steps4ms.org
nctimes.com