Sunday, April 27, 2008
YOUNGSTOWN - When he was in his 20s, Jim Salata sensed something was amiss after experiencing slight numbness near his right eye.
The sense that Salata may have multiple sclerosis stayed with him and years later, that feeling was confirmed when the 56-year-old Youngstown man’s entire body went numb.
“I knew I had symptoms for the longest time,” said Salata, a former flooring contractor who was diagnosed in 2001, and who used a walker to take part in the Multiple Sclerosis Services Agency’s 17th annual MS Super Walk on Sunday in Mill Creek Park.
The 4-mile walk through the park began and ended at the Wick Recreation Area off McCollum Road. Along the way, more than 200 participants raised money to serve the needs of area residents with the disease by securing donations on a per-mile basis or taking flat amounts.
For more than 20 years, Eleanor Bell of Lake Milton has taken advantage of water therapy programs she said have given her much greater muscle control. About a month after starting, Bell, who was diagnosed in 1967, went from being depressed and unable to walk to taking steps and navigating a few stairs.
The 65-year-old Bell, who attends aquatic therapy once a week at the YMCA in downtown Youngstown, offered what she thinks can be beneficial to those struggling with the disease.
“Don’t give up or give in to your depression,” Bell said, adding that she’s taken part in the walk each year. “Get involved with an MS group, and get to know people who have it.”
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.