MS advocate Lyndsay Wright: 'MS messed with the wrong girl'

Lyndsay Wright is the perfect blend of stubbornness and positivity. Despite being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at just 18 years old, she has spent nearly the past 10 years joining every physically-demanding fundraiser for MS you can think of, pushing her limits and often with a smile on her face. Not to say that being diagnosed with MS wasn’t devastating or a shock. Back in 2008, the West Milford, New Jersey, resident had fallen on black ice and had tingling in her feet. Lyndsay thought she might have gotten frostbite somehow, but a doctor’s visit revealed something she never expected: She had multiple sclerosis. “The thoughts go through your head, ‘Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?’” she tells Yahoo Lifestyle. The 28-year-old said it took her about a year to feel comfortable enough to share her story of having MS with others. She decided to try the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Walk MS, a national walk to raise money for MS research, and was hooked. Lyndsay started her own walking team, Demyelinate This, in 2008. “The protective coating on your brain and spinal column is covered by myelin,” she explains. “So as the disease progresses and attacks that myelin, it gets rid of it. I named my team Demyelinate This because we’re a strong bond — you know, try and break us apart. You can’t do it.”