Athlete, MS patient, and research advocate Laura Cariello discussed the ups and downs of managing MS in a recent digital profiel. You can read the full article from Asbury Park Press here. 

“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.”

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.