WALK MS CHAMPION - ANGEL ARROYO JR.

Angel Arroyo Jr. is the captain of team MS Mission Possible at the South Suburbs – Orland Park Walk MS.

Q: Tell me about being diagnosed with MS. What is your story?

A: I got diagnosed with MS three years ago [in 2010] while on a three year work assignment in India. I got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, and I felt my left leg just kind of tighten up, and it basically dropped me. I thought I was going into a seizure. I screamed out for my fiancé, who is now my wife, and basically told her I’m having a seizure. After 10 seconds I was back to normal, jumped up, and went back to bed. Two hours later, it happened again. I went to the doctor for an MRI, and he came back and said he thought I had MS. At that point I had no clue what MS was. I was completely blind to it. I was about to get married, and my wife was going to have our first child. A lot of things just kind of ran through my head: is this life threatening, am I going to die next week, am I going to be there for my family? It was a little worrisome—a little terrifying at first. My neurologist in India told me I looked great, I looked strong, and that drugs and medications these days help MS Patients live a long, healthy lifestyle, and still I wasn’t convinced. The one thing that absolutely convinced me that I could live with this and I could deal with this is the fact that he said, “Angel, instead of living to the age of 95, you’ll live to the age of 90.” At that point I gave him a smirk, looked over to my wife and said, “Let’s rock and roll. Let’s do this.”

Q: How does having MS motivate you?

A: I compare MS to raising a child. When raising a child, as a father, failure isn’t an option. So I’m going to do everything possible to make sure that I’m going to be there for my daughter growing up. I truly believe that I was dealt a set of cards with no option to fold, and I’m looking for that river.

Q: How did not knowing about MS prior to your diagnosis affect you?

A: The amazing thing about not knowing what MS is and going through it is that I’ve found that it’s a lot more common than people actually think. I have come across individuals who choose not to talk about it, whereas I choose to talk about it. The more I talk about it, the more I educate people on what it is. I’m not ashamed that I have it. The moment I started talking about it, senior management, friends, and family were saying, “You know, my aunt has this, my grandmother has this, in fact my brother has this.” If it wasn’t for me coming forward with it, I don’t think I would’ve ever known or ever had that exposure to those individuals, and I think it has gotten us closer because we have a common element.

Q: Why did you join Walk MS?

A: No one in my family has MS, and I had no neurologists in North America. All of my neurologists were either in India or in Singapore, so it was basically like I was on an island all by myself. We were coming back from India to Chicago and moving into a new house in Flossmore. My wife was driving in the neighborhood, and there was this beauty salon near our home that had a big banner that said, “Cutathon: All proceeds go to the MS Society.” I think to this day that it was a blessing from the sky. I wasn’t prepared to see what I thought I was going to see; I thought I was going to see a lot of wheelchair bound individuals not being able to maneuver themselves. I went in there with my wife, my mother in law, and my daughter, and I asked my wife, who is a little more personable than I am, to let me make the initial conversation. I met this individual by the name of Marge, and she just welcomed me with open arms and explained why they were doing this. The person behind it, who to me is my angel on earth, was Sylvia Kemp. Sylvia ran our support group at St. James hospital in Olympia Fields, called MS Mission Possible. We meet on a monthly basis every second Wednesday of every month to talk about MS issues, new drugs, and we’ve got neurologists and therapists that come in. They’ve got this full blown environment where individuals like me who have no clue about it can come in and start expressing their feelings and concerns. MS Mission Possible does the walk, and Sylvia was the captain. When Sylvia moved out of state, she gave me the reigns of team captain for the MS Mission Possible southwest burbs site. That’s why I started walking, why I started getting involved. Having MS just forces me even more to raise and create that awareness out there, but ultimately, Sylvia was my savior and my reason for joining.

Q: What is your fundraising goal for this year? How will you accomplish it?

A: Our goal for this year is $50,000. We’ve teamed up with local brewers in the neighborhood, and they’ve committed to giving us 25 percent from anyone who comes in on a certain day with a particular flyer, and they donate that to our walk. The Cutathon is another one of our events. We’re applying what we learned from the marketing guys at the MS Leadership Conference. We’ve got Twitter, we’ve got Facebook, we’ve got LinkedIn hitting our professionals, so we’re trying to get awareness out there and seeking out all funds possible. Shirt selling was big last year, and it’s something that we’re going to continue to do.

Q: Why should others living with MS join Walk MS?

A: I can be fairly spiritual, and I think that God gives MS to strong people. Right now it’s important to just educate the world on what it is. MS attacks everyone differently, but ultimately, I don’t want our kids and future kids having to worry about MS. Period. So that awareness, the raising of funds, and the supporting of trials is all well worth it. We need to come together, hold hands, and just face this beast head on.

Q: Why do you walk? What is your hope for the future?

A: I want my kids to not face or experience what I’m experiencing. I want to make this an MS-free world.