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Barry dad's leap of faith!
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| On cloud nine: Steve Hughes reaches for the sky. |
WHEN Barry dad-of-two Steve Hughes was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2004, he was determined that a lifetime of watching daytime television wouldn't be his fate.
Forced to give up his job as a surveyor with Rentokil, Steve resolved that although his illness would throw up many challenges, he would embrace some of his own.
And having already embraced daytime TV by auditioning for Channel 4's Deal or No Deal', he celebrated his birthday on Monday (May 12) by taking to the skies with twin brother Mark for a tandem skydive, raising funds and awareness for the MS Society.
Steve, 32, of Highfield Road, said: "December 1, 2004 is probably one of the only days that is actually burned into my memory.
"I had a lumbar puncture on my birthday in 2004 and my wife Kirstine was pregnant."
MS is a condition where the immune system mistakes the body's own tissue for a foreign body, such as infectious bacteria, and attacks it.
The immune system attacks myelin, striping it off the nerve fibres and leaving scars known as lesions, which disrupt messages travelling along nerve fibres - they can slow down, become distorted, pass from one nerve fibre to another - or even not get through.
Steve was diagnosed with up to 30 lesions following a large numbers of tests and MRI scans.
His symptoms include extreme tiredness, memory problems, muscle weakness - and he can't walk any distance without the aid of a stick.
Steve said: "I'd already come to terms with it, so it was almost like a relief to have a name to put to it.
"I wanted to do something since I've got ill and I've always wanted to do something for the MS Society - you do get a lot of information from them - and it was just a matter of finding something to do.
"There is a great possibility that in five to 10 years time I won't be able to walk anymore so the philosophy is just to do it."
So Steve and twin brother Mark, from Wokingham, hurled themselves 10,000ft out of a plane over Swansea Airfield on Saturday (May 10).
"The funniest part was the 25 to 30 second free-fall," said Steve.
"I had my eyes open, but I couldn't look down a lot because I had to look at the camera.
"It was absolutely amazing - just peacefulness and the views across Swansea and the Gower.
"Afterwards I felt absolutely relaxed with a big grin on my face.
"Given the option we would both have gone up again!"
Wife Kirstine, a Claims Adviser for the AA in Cardiff, bought the tandem jump for Steve as a birthday gift so all the money he raises would go direct to the charity.
She said: "The main question we get asked about MS is, what is it?'
"People think you need to be in a wheelchair.
"We do find it difficult when people don't understand, and they make assumptions that Steve is lazy.
"We've both 'got' MS because I have got to deal with it," she added.
But she credited the illness with enabling them to make the most of life's opportunities.
"We are grateful to it because, as much as we don't want the MS, Steve wouldn't have jumped out of the plane without it.
"We are a 'cup-half-full' couple!"
To sponsor Steve, visit www.justgiving.com/stevehughes76
12:40pm Friday 16th May 2008
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