For Menomonee Falls Woman, Walk MS Is All About Connection

Those who know about multiple sclerosis know that it’s a disease of connection. Not only does it destroy the connections that deliver messages from the brain to the body in the person living with the disease, but it also affects those connected to the person who is diagnosed.

Ronessa Tholl of Menomonee Falls understands this all too well.

“MS has affected the lives of a lot of people I know. It’s not just the person who was diagnosed with the disease but also the people who love and care for them,” Tholl said.

It’s a fact she learned when her very best friend, Tonya Lenz, began participating in annual Walk MS events to honor her aunt, who had been diagnosed with the disease. After Lenz died unexpectedly in 2009, her co-workers and friends donated hundreds of dollars to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in her name and formed Walk MS Team Tonya in her memory.

“We wanted to continue to raise awareness of a cause that was close to Tonya’s heart and help find a cure for all suffering with MS,” Tholl said.

Three years later, Tholl’s own grandfather was diagnosed. On Saturday, she and the rest of Team Tonya will take part in Walk MS: Menomonee Falls. It will be Tholl’s 11^th Walk, and is one of 18 Walk MS events happening across Wisconsin through May 6.

“You take for granted a lot of small things you do on a daily basis - walking up or going down stairs for example. And those few steps we take for granted seem like a mountain to someone who has MS,” she added. “They call MS a “prime of life disease” because most people are diagnosed with it between the ages of 20 to 50. Imagine being 35 and not being able to walk up stairs? I like to think that we walk for all those who want to but can’t.”

Wisconsin has one of the highest incidence rates in the nation with more than 10,000 children, women and men diagnosed in the state. Nearly 1,000 people are living with MS in Waukesha County, along with every family member, friend, neighbor and co-worker who loves and cares for the person diagnosed.

More than $1.5 million was raised through Walk MS events in Wisconsin last year, making it the largest fundraiser supporting the National MS Society-Wisconsin Chapter. More than $25,000 of that came from the Menomonee Falls event. This year’s Walk MS: Menomonee Falls fundraising goal is $26,000.

Event Details

• What: Walk MS: Menomonee Falls
• When: Saturday, April 28, 9 a.m. check-in, 10 a.m. start
• Where: Menomonee Falls High School
• Why: To raise awareness and funds to create a world free of MS
• For more information, or to register or donate: www.walkmswisconsin.org