A Walk with Purpose

Growing up in Baltimore County, Lindsay Major-Ringgold had a bond with her family that was tighter than most. Major-Ringgold, her older sister, Farrah, and their parents did everything together, from enjoying the outdoors to gathering around the dinner table every night without fail.

At the center of the family was her beloved father, who looked forward to his daily after-school conversations with his daughters to hear every specific detail of their days. “My father stayed at home,” she says, “so we never came home to an empty house and there was always lots of conversation.”

Though Major-Ringgold’s father lived with the unpredictability of multiple sclerosis (MS), a painful and incurable autoimmune disease, “I never thought my family was different from anyone else’s,” says the resident. “My mom made our lives as normal as possible and my dad was always fun to be around.”

Diagnosed with a chronic progressive form of MS while his wife was pregnant with Major-Ringgold, her father was walking with canes when Major-Ringgold was in second grade and wheelchair-bound by the time she reached fifth grade. Major-Ringgold’s grandmother—her father’s mother—also had MS and died as a result of complications of it when Major-Ringgold was just a year old.

While some people might have felt defeated by such tragedy early on in life, for Major-Ringgold, the experiences had a positive, life-changing effect on her.

“It shaped who I am and brought us much closer together,” she says. The Major family was very involved with activities organized by the MS Society and Major-Ringgold has participated in fundraisers for nearly as long as she can remember, from read-a-thons to rollerblading races.

Seven years ago, Major-Ringgold signed up for the Maryland chapter of the MS Society’s Challenge Walk, which covered 50 miles over three days. Though the event has since been slightly pared down to 50k (31 miles) over two days, she has committed to every Challenge Walk since the beginning.

“I was nervous to sign up the first year,” she says, “because I wasn’t sure I could raise the money.” Watching her father’s health decline was enough to encourage her, and she went about finding as many people as possible to sponsor her.

Her father passed away in 2006, just six months before Major-Ringgold’s wedding and five months after she completed her first Challenge Walk. Since then, she vowed to fight even harder to help the MS Society find a cure for the disease that took her dad and grandmother.

Her commitment to the Challenge Walk is evident in her astonishing fundraising record. Major-Ringgold estimates that, over the seven years she’s been participating, she has raised $50,000 for the MS Society, averaging several thousand dollars each year.

Last year, Major-Ringgold raised $8,535 as the second highest MS Society Challenge Walk fundraiser in the state and was awarded the MS Awareness Award for having more than 150 donors—more than any other Challenge Walk or Bike participant. This year, her goal is to raise $6,500, or one dollar for every person in Maryland living with MS.

Major-Ringgold isn’t shy about canvassing for sponsors, and she’s thrilled that even local business owners have supported her. “Last year, I received donations from Luna Blu restaurant, The Big Cheese deli and Snyder’s Bootery in downtown Annapolis,” she says, noting that all money donated is tax-deductible.

“I also have lots of individual sponsors, with all my family and friends helping out,” says Major-Ringgold. “The money goes through the National MS Society but all comes back to Maryland, and supports research at the MS centers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland, and family outreach programs such as self-help groups to connect others living with MS.”

The Challenge Walk itself is one of the Maryland MS Society’s largest fundraisers. Beginning on Kent Island and winding through to Chestertown, the Challenge Walk draws more than 700 walkers and bike riders, some of whom have no first-hand experience with the disease.

After the first day of walking and biking, the MS Society holds an awards ceremony for top fundraisers and, later, an emotional candlelight ceremony to remember those whose lives have been claimed by the disease. By the end, Major-Ringgold says, every participant has a deep appreciation of the effects of MS.

Walkers and bikers in the Challenge Walk are well cared for, with small hydration pit stops every half-mile and a full-fledged rest stop at every mile and a half. Both Major-Ringgold’s mother, who is a nurse, and her sister volunteer at a rest stop and her mother also lends her skills to the onsite medical staff.

“While I’m walking, it’s sort of my ‘me time,’ and I like to be on my own to reflect on things and meet and talk to new people,” says Major-Ringgold, “though it’s great to see my mom and sister when I get to their rest stop. There are so many people who help out, including volunteers who cheer you on and even write jokes on the sidewalk to keep your spirits up.”

To prepare for the annual event, Major-Ringgold participates in smaller events throughout the year and also enjoys walking in the neighborhood. “Cape St. Claire is a great place to train,” she says.

Her training and participation is paying off. Last year, Major-Ringgold reports that, thanks to the thousands of people who support MS fundraisers, the FDA has approved the first oral drug therapy to treat MS, allowing patients an alternative to the currently-available injectable therapy.

Major-Ringgold emphasizes that, due to its varying symptoms, MS is difficult to diagnose though is often confirmed with MRIs and spinal taps. “It’s often misdiagnosed as Lyme disease or lupus as it has the same symptoms, but process of elimination usually narrows it down,” she says. While it hasn’t been confirmed as genetically transmitted, there is a genetic predisposition to it, as in Major-Ringgold’s family.

This year, the MS Challenge Walk takes place on Saturday, June 11 and Sunday, June 12, and Major-Ringgold is accepting donations through May 19—her father’s birthday—on her own page of the MS Society’s website.

As she has in past years, Major-Ringgold will again tack a photo of her family with her father and to the back of her Challenge Walk shirt to keep them close. And she will walk with purpose and conviction as she remembers the impact her father made on her life. As she says, “My dad lost his mobility, he lost his sight, then he lost his ability to grip objects, and he was in a lot of pain, but he never lost his sense of humor.”