Multiple sclerosis knocked down Toms River woman; now she trains for her next triathlon

There were four steps leading down to the workout room in Laura Cariello’s home. Sometimes, they felt like 4,000.

Cariello has multiple sclerosis, and on her toughest days, walking proved a struggle. Yet she continued to descend the stairs, determined to exercise and hold the disease’s potentially debilitating symptoms at bay.

“Honestly, I cannot count how many times she fell down those steps,” mom Angela Zadeh recalled. “One time she hit her head and I thought, ‘This is not good.’ But she picked herself up. She always picked herself up.”

That kind of fortitude yielded remarkable results. Now 44, Cariello has completed a triathlon and is training for another. The Toms River resident shares a message for anyone facing a major life challenge.

“Your illness or your situation does not define you,” she said. “Your strength and your courage does.”

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'I felt defeated and scared'

Cariello was a 20-year-old student and soccer player at Middlesex County College when her vision began blurring. Then came numbness in her extremities.

“I remember laying on my bed, and I couldn’t feel my hands, I couldn’t feel my feet, I couldn’t see out of my left eye,” she said. “I felt defeated and scared.”

At 21 Cariello was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic disease of the central nervous system. Hers was "relapsing-remitting," which means symptoms would flare up and then disappear for stretches. After that first flare-up, they disappeared for a decade.

“I lived my life and didn’t tell anyone; it was my secret,” Cariello said. “I was hiding this ugly monster. Then it showed its face.”

The next flare-up knocked her down.

“My balance was interrupted; I couldn’t walk without holding onto a wall,” she said. “I had foot drop — I would trip on air. It (MS) was smacking me in the face, saying, ‘I’m still here.’ That was devastating.”

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She felt herself deteriorating — “becoming someone I didn’t know” — and resolved to fight back.

“I knew I had to change,” she said.

Under the guidance of Dr. Saud Sadiq of the International Multiple Sclerosis Management Practice in New York City, Cariello attacked MS with a combination of medication, a clean diet designed to reduce inflammation, and a workout regimen. That last part required her to navigate those four perilous steps.

“I started working out in the basement, and that gave me the confidence to walk into a gym, which gave me the confidence for walking into a CrossFit Gym (for high-intensity training),” she said. “Doing CrossFit led to me becoming a triathlete.”

In 2018 Cariello completed the War at the Shore triathlon, which consists of a 300-meter open-water swim, a 12-mile bicycle ride and a 3.1-mile footrace. The footrace was the hardest part and not just because it comes last. Her foot-drop condition makes running difficult.

“I fell at finish line,” she said.

But she finished.

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Consistent and persistent

Cariello also competes in Spartan races, which are like obstacle courses that require feats of strength.

“She’s carrying a huge log up a hill in the middle of summer,” said Zadeh, her mother, who is a Barnegat resident. “You could see the struggle on her face, but she got to the top.”

She could not have done it without Sadiq, whom Zadeh called “a light in a very dark forest.”

To pay it forward, Cariello is raising money for the Tisch MS Research Center of New York, which is affiliated with Sadiq’s practice. Her goal is $10,000 as part of the inaugural 31-Day Research Challenge, which is going on now because March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month.

“MS is not a death sentence anymore,” Zadeh said.

Her daughter is Exhibit A.

“She’s consistent and she’s persistent. Patients like that never lose,” Sadiq said. “Everyone with MS should set a goal that’s interesting to them and attainable. Laura did that in a major way.”

Next up is the Jersey Girl Triathlon at Sandy Hook in September.

“I’m proud of her,” Zadeh said. “The lesson is never give up.”

At least once a week, Cariello imparts that wisdom to strangers who seek her guidance about living with MS.

“A mom reached out and said, ‘My daughter is young and was diagnosed and I was looking online, and I didn’t see anything encouraging until I came across you and saw what you’re doing,’” Cariello said.

That hit home.

“I’ll give people hope for the rest of my days,” she said. "For as long as I can talk."

She has one powerful story to tell.

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Her multiple sclerosis led Toms River woman to race in triathlons