Councillor lay on ‘scrapheap’ with incurable chronic disease
By Maurice Garvey
A COUNCILLOR with an incurable chronic disease, has signed up for a marathon – a feat he thought impossible as he lay on the “scrapheap” 13 years ago.
Sinn Fein Councillor Mark Ward was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2005, on a walking stick at the age of 32, and slipped into depression for a number of years.
Councillor Mark Ward
His condition is not something he has talked about publicly before, except briefly during a South Dublin County Council meeting where MS came up on the agenda, something which caused surprise amongst fellow members.
He says the decision to bring it up now, is to raise awareness for newly diagnosed people with MS – a chronic disease of the central nervous system.
Speaking about the dark days of depression, Cllr Ward says consulting Google was not ideal for his peace of mind.
“I researched everything I could find – my mind at the time would not let me focus on anything positive – I basically diagnosed myself in having the worst case possible of MS,” he said.
Putting on a “front” to the world, Ward felt he was “dying inside” and isolated from his wife and kids, slipping further into depression.
He continued: “I lost a career, I pushed family and friends away. I could be on Hill 16 surrounded by thousands and yet I felt alone. I was afraid that if I talked about how I was feeling, that the persona that I was portraying would shatter and I would shatter with it.”
After his physical health deteriorated, he lost another job and found himself “unemployed for the first time in my life.”
“The shame I felt as a man that always provided for his family multiplied the other issues in my life. I had a complete mental and physical breakdown. Depression crippled me emotionally.”
Change
Ward says the fear of losing his children “kick started a psychic change” and he began to make changes, improving his diet, quitting alcohol and exercising.
“Gradually things started to improve. I enrolled in a course that led to college. A memory that always sticks with me is walking through UCD with all the other students and finally realising that I was as good as any of them.”
“I qualified as a behavioural therapist and was working in a job that I adored specialising working with people with addiction issues. I had a talent working with people that society had discarded – sure wasn’t I a lost cause myself at one stage.”
When he got the opportunity to represent his community of Clondalkin as a councillor, he “didn’t hesitate even though it was a big hit financially.”
“Today I am healthy, mentally and physically. My relationships with my family and friends is unbelievable. I live a fully active life where I try on a daily basis to make a positive difference in people’s lives.”
Ward says he still has “bad days but they are getting further apart.”
“Having MS does not define me. I am not a MS sufferer, MS suffers me.”
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