The Stick-Free Zone: Training With MS

Andi Wilford was 25 years old when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a degenerative neurological disease affecting muscle coordination.

Though she often struggled to walk — or even lift her head — Wilford worked for 25 years as a mental-health nurse. But when she retired, she worried inactivity would hasten the disease’s progression — a fear that seemed justified after she fell and fractured her wrist.

Wilford’s friend, whose grandson owns Stronger Together CrossFit, told her she should try CrossFit.

Though initially reluctant, Wilford decided to give it a shot after learning of a member at the gym who also had MS.

“That was the key for me — that somebody else with this condition is doing something,” she says.

Coach Kimberley Gott recalls the time she told Wilford not to bring her walking stick into the gym anymore.

“This is gonna be a stick-free zone,” Gott said.

Wilford was taken aback at first, but now she’s grateful for the tough love.

“It’s phenomenal,” Wilford says. “It was magic. Before I started going to the gym to CrossFit, I was walking with a stick all the time. I’m using it less and less. … I can walk unaided.”

Originally published – Nov. 2018.