A Fife man has vowed to conquer his crippling fear of heights to help raise money in the fight against multiple sclerosis.
Nigel McLennan plans to abseil from the Forth Bridge on October 6 for his fiancée Shirley Reise, who was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of MS more than two years ago.
The couple, who have three children between them, live in the village of Pitlessie where they look after a menagerie of animals.
But their lives changed dramatically when Shirley, aged 32 at the time, was struck down with Relapse and Remitting MS, which saw her going from working full-time, mucking out stables and riding horses to being completely paralysed from the chest down and almost going blind.
Thankfully, daily medication and a once monthly drop of a drug known as Tysabri has made a huge difference, but Nigel is determined to take a leap of faith in October to raise awareness of what MS sufferers are going through.
“I really really hate heights. I’m terrified. I hate even climbing the height of a ladder,” he said.
“But Shirley has faced many terrifying things during her time with MS, from being paralysed from the chest down and going blind.
“I want to put my fears to the side as she has done, to raise awareness of this horrific disease.
“Day to day life is tough between work home and kids, and it really takes its toll on us both.
“I support Shirley in all she does, and I want to raise awareness as well as money of the prevalence of MS in Scotland.
“We try to live as normal a life as is possible, and hope to be married very soon.
“Life is too short to delay things, and when you love someone as much as I love Shirley, why wait?”
Nigel has set up a GoFundMe fundraising page online with a £1,000 target, but hopes are high that the final figure will far exceed that total.
Anyone wishing to help should visit
https://www.gofundme.com/forth-rail-bridge-abseil-ms-society-scotland
.
