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Community Corner

Winchester Native Walks to Raise Money for Multiple Sclerosis

Winchester native, Stephen Homsey, is walking across the country to support MS research.

A little more than two years ago, Steve Homsey suffered an accident that left him immobile.

After a 40-foot fall from an apartment building, it took months of rehabilitation until the Winchester native was able to walk again.

The injuries and the impact on Homsey's life was similar, to a degree, to those that suffer from Multiple Sclerosis. Once he began to recover his functionality, Homsey became to learn more about the disease.

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That's when Homsey decided to take advantage of his second chance and walk across the country.

“In May of 2009, I had an accident where I fell 40-plus feet and hurt myself very badly,” explains Homsey. “The fall left me immobile for two months. I was unbelievably frustrated during my recovery because of the lack of ability to do my daily tasks, the walk came out of experiencing this.”

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But instead of just traveling from the east coast to the west, the 2003 graduate of started his Step4MS walk across the nation. Homsey is trying to raise money for MS research and for families that are impacted by the disease.

Homsey is about two months into his walk, which he expects will take six to seven months. He left from the on May 10 and is  heading all the way across America, on-foot, alone, to the Pacific Ocean. As of July 3, he was in Kingsport, Tennessee.

“Every case of MS is different,” Homsey said. “You can't just say, 'I have MS,' and it fits into a certain category or cure. Every attack is different. The variety of effects are so broad, but, all in a way, end your ability to do certain things.”

Homsey mentioned “fatigue and lack of balance” as two of the most common symptoms, something he'll surely need as he makes his way across America.

When asked what his toughest obstacles have been so far on his furlough, Homsey responded: “Weather and injuries. Plus, finding places to stay.”

His biggest fears as he travels alone, down occasionally turbulent turnpikes and across unknown towns: “I'm not really too afraid of the unknown out there, I just want to stay on schedule. I don't want to let anyone down or get myself into trouble by going into a bad neighborhood and having the wrong thing happen.”

Homsey's only companions, aside from calls from friends and family along the way, are his three-wheel, 150-pound push cart that he stores all his equipment on – video camera (for the documentary Homsey is making about his travels), clothes, toiletries, food supply and camping equipment. All the expenses for Homsey's trip are coming out of pocket.

You can visit Homsey's website to learn more about his walk and how you can donate.

Homsey is also looking for more set destinations where he can stay along the way. You can reach him at Stephen@steps4ms.org.

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