Carlsbad teenager is U.S. ambassador for World MS Day

Carlsbad resident Breea Renee, 19, diagnosed a year ago with multiple sclerosis, is serving this year as the U.S. ambassador for the 2013 World MS Day.   She was one of six young people selected by the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation to serve as their country’s ambassador for World MS Day. The other five ambassadors are from Argentina, Tunisia, Portugal, Russia and India.  

In December 2011, as an 18-year-old senior attending La Costa Canyon High School, Renee woke up one morning paralyzed and blind. Today, she is able to walk and see. She also is continuing her education as a college student at Northern Arizona University, and is spending time in contact with other young people who have been recently diagnosed with MS.  

“The fact that I am improving gives me hope,” Renee said. “I am walking again and I can still laugh and love. I also gives me hope that researchers are working hard to find a cure. Creating awareness of MS will support their work and our chances of living in a world free of MS someday.”  

Wednesday, May 29 was officially designated as 2013 World MS Day. As the U.S. ambassador, Renee recently participated in a live twitter chat hosted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and Everyday Health.com. She also has been active in social media sharing her motto, “Embrace change, embrace life.”   Mottos from the other World MS Day ambassadors include: Brenda, 21, from Argentina, “Surround yourself with love;” Khaoula, 28, from Tunisia, “Life is beautiful, live it together;” Diogo, 23, from Portugal, “Be more than yesterday;” Anna, 26, from Russia, “Learn to build and rebuild what I am, and what I want to be;” Praneel, 18, from India, “Life is for living, so live it.”  

World MS Day was a worldwide collaborative campaign designed to raise awareness about MS, a chronic, unpredictable and disabling neurological disease of the central nervous system with no known cause, cure or prevention. As the most common neurological disease affecting young‑ to middle‑aged adults, MS interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50. More than twice as many women as men have MS. Symptoms cannot be predicted and can vary greatly, ranging from numbness in the limbs and extreme fatigue to loss of balance and muscle coordination or paralysis.  

Here is a YouTube video about Breea’s struggle to learn how to walk again, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7ox_CNiUVQ&feature=plcp.  

Here is a link to Breea’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-Breea-Beat-MS/330513570292069.  

Here is link to a website with info about Breea’s struggle with multiple sclerosis, www.extremeresiliency.com.