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Biking for a cure
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Jill Molnar, who has advanced multiple sclerosis, and her daughter, Megan Molnar, with Jill’s constant companion, Odie, a yellow labrador retriever, at the Molnar Farm Market in Springfield Township, where Jill runs the cash register. Megan, a second-year occupational therapy student at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, is riding this weekend in the 150-mile Ohio Bike MS Pedal to the Point event as team captain of Jill’s Jaunters.
NEW SPRINGFIELD
Cousins Megan Molnar and Sharri Brown will ride for their parents and other family members as they cycle the 150-mile Ohio Bike MS Pedal to the Point ride this weekend.
Jill Molnar, Megan’s mother, was diagnosed with secondary- progressive multiple sclerosis at age 32.
Now 53, Jill is in the relapse-remitting stage, in which symptoms such as numbness of feet and blurred vision come and go. About three years ago, however, she entered the progressive stage of the disease and has gone from a cane to a walker to a wheelchair.
“She’s my hero and my role model,” said Megan, 20, of her mother.
Megan, an occupational- therapy student at Duquesne University, participated in 4-H as a child, played soccer in high school and coaches youth soccer in the summer.
Sharri’s father, Gary Molnar, brother of Megan’s father, Richard, died at 51 of complications from MS.
“I’m his legs. That’s what I always say to myself. Dad started out with numbness and balance problems but quickly became bedridden and was completely paralyzed at a very young adult age,” Sharri said.
Graduates of Springfield Local High School, Megan, 20, of Springfield Township, and Sharri, 37, of Canfield, are half of the members of Jill’s Jaunters, the team captained by Megan, who will ride Saturday and Sunday in the MS ride sponsored by the Ohio Buckeye Chapter of the National MS Society.
The other team members are Virginia Landis of New Springfield and Katie Houk of New Middletown.
The cyclers will ride 75 miles between the Polaris Career Center in Middleburg Heights to Sandusky on Saturday and make the return trip Sunday. The event raises awareness about MS and money for research and programs that benefit people living with the disease.
Multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease of the central nervous system, has been particularly cruel to the Molnar family.
In addition to Jill and Gary, Jill’s grandmother, Hazel Holwick, originally of Salem, died of complications from MS, as did an aunt and sister-in-law of Jill’s husband, Richard.
The Molnars are grain and produce farmers who operate the Molnar Farm Market on Western Reserve Road under the direction of Megan’s father, Richard.
Jill works the cash register as often as she is able, and Megan and her brother, Richard Jr., who graduated from the University of Akron last spring, and other family members help operate the market.
Jill’s Jaunters exceeded its original goal of $3,500, and Megan raised the ante to $5,000. She is selling raffle tickets for a window made and donated by Dru Marchese of Poland, who also has MS, and is taking donations to raise funds.
People who want to donate to Jill’s Jaunters can drop off donations or mail them to Molnar Farms, 3115 E. Western Reserve Road, Poland, OH 44514-2842. They also can make checks payable to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Ohio Buckeye Chapter, and put either Megan Molnar or Jill’s Jaunters on the memo line and mail them to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Ohio Buckeye Chapter, 6155 Rockside Road, Suite 202, Independence, OH 44131.
Megan started off as a physical-therapy student at Duquesne, but inspired by her mother, switched to occupational therapy.
Likewise, Sharri, who started in a physical- therapy program, was inspired by her father to become an occupational therapist. She is assigned to work in Mahoning County schools through the Mahoning County Educational Service Center.
“Dad always told me I was an OT person,” said Sharri, who has an associate degree in occupational therapy from Kent State University.
She said her father was paralyzed most of her life, and she helped take care of him.
“The part I’ve always been thankful for is he always had his mind. He could still teach me during my childhood. He never complained, so when I’m out there doing walks or rides, how can I possibly complain?” said Sharri, who teaches Pilates at Diet Doc in North Jackson. She and her husband, David, have two children, Matthew, 8, and Kara, 3.
Sharri said she has participated in MS walks and events, realizing from personal experience how much help families need with medicines and equipment.
“We lived it, and back then the MS Society didn’t have all these fundraisers and the money to help us. I just want to help,” she said.
The Molnars, Jill and Richard, said they are very proud of Megan.
“I love her very much. She helps me a lot, and I’m very proud of what she’s doing,” said her mother.
“Megan’s unbelievable. She’s a heck of a daughter ... always there to give us a hand,” her father said.