An East Lothian dad has launched a fundraiser to send his friend for MS treatment abroad after undergoing the procedure himself.
Ian Neilson, 62, and his son Jamie, 33, have shared their goal of raising £55,000 for their close friend Jemma, after she was told she had the condition a few years ago.
Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis himself around four years ago, Ian and Jemma, 32, met at an oxygen treatment clinic in Edinburgh, a service mostly used by those with the condition.
Struggling with his symptoms, Ian caught Covid in 2020 and suffered a severe MS relapse which left him extremely weak and quickly deteriorating.
However, after being told about a HSCT treatment in Mexico that is currently not widely offered on the NHS, the family were able to come up with the money to see Ian spend a month there along with his son Jamie.
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Now beginning to see the effects of the harsh chemotherapy and immune treatment, Ian is desperate to give Jemma, whose condition is worse than his, the same opportunity.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, son Jamie said: 'Dad has been suffering for around seven years but only got the official diagnosis around four or five years ago. With MS you have to discount a lot of things before you finally get the diagnosis.
"He had symptoms but then in 2020 when covid hit he caught it and he had a really bad MS relapse because of it which sent him into a downward spiral, and we think he had a smaller relapse last year as well.
"In March of this year he and I travelled to Mexico for the treatment, which takes a month in total."
Combining intense chemotherapy and stem cell transplant, Clinica Ruiz only offers the treatment to patients who fit the correct criteria, in an aim to prevent their MS from worsening further, and in half of cases, allow them to see improvements in their health.
Bearing through the treatment and now having been back in Scotland for a few weeks, Jamie shared how there has been a huge change in his dad's physical and mental health.
You can donate to Jemma's Mexico fundraiser here.
He added: "Of course right now he is still building his immune system back up so he's very vulnerable to infection but he is definitely heading in the right direction. He can move his toes, his fatigue has improved and he's managed to get his fitness level up, he can manage 15 minutes on the cross trainer in comparison to two or three when he was first back.
"But the biggest change has been in his mental health, he feels he has been given a second lease of life and feels clean of all the stuff attacking his immune system."
Now already seeing the benefits of his treatment, Ian and Jamie are hoping to give the same to close friend Jemma, from Edinburgh, who was diagnosed with MS at 21.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live in 2019, Jemma shared how what she had initially believed to be a trapped nerve was actually the first signs of the condition.
She said: "It took quite a while to get diagnosed, I started off with extreme fatigue and then there was numbness, which all got put down to trapped nerves.
"I even lost my eyesight, which got put down to a trapped nerve. It wasn't until I was in excruciating pain that I got taken to the hospital and they did scans and that's when I found out."
An advocate for fundraising for MS research, Jemma had told Ian about the Mexico clinic, but was unable to fund the trip for herself.
With her condition worsening, the Neilson's said they are hoping to get her there as soon as possible in order for to have the best chance of recovery.
Taking on a series of fundraising challenges over the summer, Jamie said:
"When we went it was really finances aside the only option we had, and it is by far the best decision either of us have ever made, it's given my dad the outlook that he might actually have a second lease of life, and we didn't want to not try and it and live with the what ifs.
"Jemma's condition is getting worse, she has walking aids a lot of the time now and is in a lot more pain than before. Unfortunately her and her family aren't in the position to have the finances for it, so we are trying to everything we can to help.
"She was really overwhelmed when she found out what we were doing, when she saw it there was already over £1,000 in the pot which instantly boosted her confidence. It's given her some hope that this might actually happen."
You can donate to Jemma's Mexico fundraiser here.
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