Participant Testimonials

Craig Lessels

I am an average soccer player. I have played since I was a kid. I have always enjoyed being active and grew up in an active family. My family played tennis, and soccer. We were avid skiers and sailors. It was a few years ago that my father was finally diagnosed with MS. He spent years losing muscle in one of his legs and the doctors always diagnosed it as something else. He was finally diagnosed with MS.

It has been sad to watch my fathers disease as it has progressed. He started with a cane, then to 2 canes, then to a scooter, and now to an electric wheel chair. I have watched my father go from being this active person, who loved sailing, skiing, and working in the yard to a person who has to use a wheel chair. When I look at his face all I see is the pain that he has to live with every day.

I also had a friend die as a result of having MS. He was 2 years younger than me and was diagnosed with MS years ago. He was an avid ski racer and ski coach. He had MS take hold of him and he died a few summers ago, while living in a care home with no control of his body.

I am playing in the MS Kick For The Cure for them, and for all that have to live with this disease.

Craig Lessels

Karen Johnson

Darcie James and I met on September 7th, 1976 ... our first day of Kindergarten.

We became instant friends and 34 years later, we look back on so many fond memories. We attended 12 years of school together, flew off to Hawaii and Mexico, helped each other through our 'boyfriend crises' and we even shared a little apartment for a while!

When Darcie met Kevin in 1997, I was quick to judge. He was a few years younger than us and I just wasn't convinced that he was the right guy for her. However, it didn't take long to get to know Kevin and I quickly realized that he was exactly the right person for Darcie to share her life with. I couldn't have been happier to be a part of their wedding day in May of 2001.

A few months into their marriage, Darcie began to experience some disturbing symptoms. Later, when she was diagnosed with M.S., we were all devastated. What did this mean for Darcie and Kevin's future?

Couples that have to live daily with a long term disease or disability experience a relationship like no other. A lot of marriages don't survive such a daunting test, and I know that their relationship is anything but easy, but Kevin and Darcie are truly an amazing couple. Through it all, they have stayed together "in sickness and in health" and Kevin's commitment to raise enough money through the "MS Kick for the Cure" so that he can finally have Darcie back to her healthy self is inspiring ... an example of true love.

I am so proud to call these two wonderful people my friends and I will continue work with them to raise as much money as it takes to help Darcie and the thousands of other people that suffer from M.S. live a quality life again.

Karen Johnson

Leah Taylor

MS silently but forcefully came into my life when I was only nine years old (1984). My brother was seven and my baby sister was only one. My mom became very ill and was sick in the hospital for what seemed like forever until finally the doctors were able to diagnose our family with MS. Back then it was a very foreign disease. The road to recovery was a very long one, until finally, a few years later my mom went into remission.

Twenty-six years later, through ups and downs, my mom has come out a stronger person. She walks, swims, and chases her grandchildren at every opportunity. She is a survivor, she never gave up, she is our Hero. MS has touched our family, it touches many families, and that's why our family joins in the Kick For The Cure. Isn't it time for a Cure?

Please support this years Kick For The Cure

Leah Taylor

Justin Smith

It is with great pride that I lace up my boots once a year for the MS Kick for a Cure 10 hour marathon game that I have been a part of every year since its inception. For me the game means much more than just an opportunity to raise money and awareness for a great cause. In July of 1997, I lost one of the most important people in my life due to complications brought on by MS, that being my Uncle Mark. He was someone who I really looked up to and, unfortunately, I watched this disease take a strong, proud man and turn him into a person that struggled with life's simplest tasks.

I have always been an avid soccer player and when I heard about the opportunity to play the sport I love and raise money to try put an end to MS it was something I didn't even need to think about doing. I may not be the best player out there but I give my all from minute one to minute six hundred, when I think I m too tired or too sore to make another run I say to myself, "keep working hard, keep going....do it for your Uncle Mark and do it for all those that suffer from MS every day."

There really is not enough good things to be said about Kevin and Darcie James and their team of amazing volunteers that put on an event that is a great deal of fun to participate in and has done very well in attaining their goals of raising funds and awareness.

Justin Smith
President
3lions.ca Design Studio

John Kilbank

My mother was diagnosed with MS when I was two years old, so I grew up living with the effects of the disease and watching as it progressed. She started with canes, then to a walker, then to a scooter-type chair, finally to a full electric chair controlled by sip-and-puff. When she passed away from pneumonia ten years ago, it was kind of a relief, because it was so difficult to watch her trapped in her body that didn't work anymore. My biggest regret is that she didn't get to really know her grandchildren.

The MS Kick for the Cure combines my love for Soccer with a chance to help out fundraising for MS Research. It's a crazy, fun, exhausting day but well worth it. Two of my kids take part in the kids games as well - I think it's important for them to learn early how to help out when they can.

John Kilbank
Scribe Graphics Inc.