Making a Bequest

Would you be prepared to make a contribution to finding a cure for multiple sclerosis?    

“I am sorry to have to tell you that you have multiple sclerosis.”

Those words are heard coming from the lips of doctors across Australia and the world every day.  There are over 2.5 million people world-wide living with multiple sclerosis.

Being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis is usually a frightening and devastating experience which threatens to disrupt people’s lives in very unpredictable ways.  Diagnosis of MS can invoke a range of feelings which may include disbelief, resentment, fear, anger, panic, depression, grief, a sense of loss.   It is a fact of life that enormous pressures bear down on people with disabilities and their families.  Invariably families of people with multiple sclerosis become full-time carers.

When writing your Will would you please give consideration to making a Bequest to the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation.  Your generosity and caring will contribute greatly to the pursuit of a cure or preventative strategy for multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a devastating disease because people live with its unpredictable physical and emotional effects for the rest of their lives.  Please help us find a cure to save the suffering this horrendous disease inflicts on people. 

Introduction

Thank you for considering making a bequest in support of the Foundation.  We do appreciate your interest in the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation.

A very high percentage of Australians die without leaving a Will which invariably causes distress and confusion to those they leave behind.  It is therefore important to leave a valid and up-to-date Will.

Have you, your loved ones or any of your friends been touched by multiple sclerosis?

The Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation would be very grateful for any consideration made by way of a bequest to the Foundation, which has the specific aim of finding a cure or preventative strategy for multiple sclerosis.

Any legacy or gift you leave will most definitely ‘make a difference’ because every dollar raised by the Foundation is placed into research.

The Foundation is certain in going forward that we will make today’s dream a reality that no other special person need suffer or lose their life to multiple sclerosis.

The importance of making a Will

The only way to ensure your wishes will be carried out after you pass away is to detail your wishes in a legal Will.

You may have made promises during your lifetime which cannot be carried out because they may not be enforceable by law.

If a person dies without leaving a Will, it is the family who usually suffers.  A husband may wish his entire estate be left to his wife, however this can only be guaranteed if his Will contains directions to that effect.  Independent legal advice is essential to ensure the validity of a Will and any bequests.

Leaving a bequest or legacy to charity is a personal decision and often occurs because the work of a charitable organisation has had an impact on a person’s life or the life of their loved ones.

The generosity of people in making a bequest to the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation will greatly benefit research funded by the Foundation.

Those whose lives have been touched by this insidious disease and others who recognise and applaud the significant contribution made by the Foundation in the pursuit of a cure for multiple sclerosis may wish to consider leaving a legacy to the Foundation in their Wills.

Please consider making a Bequest to the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation.  Your Bequest will make a difference because every dollar will be placed into research to find a cure or preventative strategy for multiple sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis – a disease with tragic consequences

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic degenerative disease of the Central Nervous System.  It is the most common neurological disease that affects young adults.

MS usually strikes young adults in the prime of their lives and it affects twice as many women as men.  Many young adults become so disabled they have to live in nursing homes with elderly people.

In multiple sclerosis sufferers the myelin, which encases the nerve fibres and assists nerve function, becomes inflamed and damaged causing plaques or lesions of inflammation and the myelin is lost from many areas of the Central Nervous System – the brain and the spinal cord.

Symptoms may include double or blurred vision, numbness, loss of co-ordination, muscle weakness, lack of balance, staggering and dragging of the feet with resultant problems with walking, extreme tiredness, speech difficulties, sensitivity to heat, problems with bladder and bowel control, cognitive problems, spasms.

The cause of multiple sclerosis is unknown and there is no cure for this very significant disorder.   An average of 40 people per 100,000 suffer from multiple sclerosis in Australia generally.

Multiple sclerosis is generally accepted to be auto-immune disease in which the immune system attacks and damages the Central Nervous System.  Eighty per cent of people who are diagnosed with MS suffer a relapsing remitting course of MS which is characterised by one to two attacks per year on average.  After a period of relapsing remitting course, maybe for many years, most patients enter a secondary progressive phase.  Twenty per cent of patients simply get worse from the beginning without attacks and remissions.

Multiple sclerosis is a very variable disease some cases following a benign course.  On past results fifty per cent of MS patients are confined to a wheelchair after ten years and only one third are still able to work full time after five years with the condition. 

Imagine your world being stripped away and replaced by a different world, a world that consisted of lying in a nursing home bed completely paralysed, unable to eat, speak or communicate with your loved ones.

About the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation

The Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation was established with the specific goal of finding a cure or preventative strategy for multiple sclerosis.

The inspiration of the Foundation, Trish Langsford, passed away peacefully on 16 March 2002.

But Trish’s death wasn’t in vain.  Those people who watched Trish suffer as she lost her grip on life were determined to save others from the tragic consequences of this insidious disease.  A team of volunteers banded together and, with the support of an eminent Scientific Research Committee, formed the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation.

In contrast to a number of other charities, the Foundation is staffed solely by a team of volunteers who give their time and resources for free so that every dollar raised is placed into research.

The Foundation has a very eminent Scientific Research Committee to advise the Foundation Board on applications for research.  Professor John Pollard, Head of Clinical Neurology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Sydney University, Emeritus Professor James McLeod, his immediate predecessor (and Chairman), Professor Peter Russell, Head of Anatomical Pathology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Dr. John Walsh, a Senior Neurologist comprise the Committee.  Professor McLeod was Chairman of the Multiple Sclerosis Society Research Committee for many years.  The Foundation considers itself very privileged to have such a committed and eminent Scientific Research Committee.

Approvals were obtained from the Department Gaming and Racing, the Health Department and the Taxation Department.  All donations of $2 and over are tax deductible.

The Foundation has formed an association with Multiple Sclerosis Australia and MS Research Australia. We are working together, with MS researchers across Australia, to accelerate progress towards our common goal.

Professor Russell said, “We are inspired by the tragedy of this remarkable young woman to redouble our efforts and to support the efforts of others.  Failure is not on our agenda.”

About Trish Langsford

The inspiration of the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation, Trish Langsford, was struck down in the prime of her life by multiple sclerosis.

Prior to being struck down by this insidious disease Trish was an elite athlete.  She was a member of the New South Wales Open Women’s Cricket Team, was a member of the Australian Squad and captained the Australian Youth Team against New Zealand.  Trish was described by cricket writer Amanda Weaver as one of the most gifted players in Australia.  Then she was struck down by multiple sclerosis.

Trish spent her last four and a half years in a nursing home with elderly people bravely battling end-stage multiple sclerosis.  She was artificially fed and morphine was administered four hourly during that entire time.  She understood everything that was said, laughed at the appropriate times, but unfortunately could not communicate.  One can only imagine what she could have been thinking.

Trish graduated from university with a degree in Human Movement following which she was appointed Development Officer for Women’s Cricket NSW.  She enjoyed her job and was devastated when, at the age of 23, she finally had to relinquish the position because of the effects of multiple sclerosis.

Federal MP Brendan Nelson, writing in the North Shore Times, summed up Trish’s life taken from her, “… this remarkable story is one of courage sustained by a remarkable love.  Love of parents, love of her God and the love of childhood friends.”

“… Trish accepted her debilitating disease with dignified grace.  Her embarrassed humility in accepting sporting trophies translated into the way she faced adversity.  Not once did she complain through her long illness.”

“In doing so she inspired those around her to be stronger people.”

“Critics of faith – of belief in someone or something greater than oneself should reflect on what this woman said on the eve of her admission to a nursing home.  She said, ‘With everything God has done for us, for me, who am I to complain that I have this disease?’”

“We mortals can do something for the memory of this inspiring woman.”

With Trish’s passing the Foundation is even more determined, if that is possible, to work hard and raise a great deal more money for research so that we can achieve our goal and save others from suffering as Trish did.