Dominic Shadbolt
I am a bit of a polymath and have done a wide variety of things in my 53 years here. The longest standing part of my life, apart from family, is that I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 1994.
Fortunately, it hasn’t affected me as badly as it has many. With the callousness of youth and (relative) health, I didn’t bother to engage much with either the disease or the wider needs of the MS community. Lately, I have done much more of both.
In March 2021 a friend persuaded me to start a YouTube channel for people with MS, so I did! theMSguide.com was born and the last year has been a whirlwind of successes all from the channel.
[Re the picture: In Aug 2019 I went to Nepal and the picture is of me sitting in the classroom of a small mountain village in the Langtang Province. Hands together and a loud chant of Namaste was what all the lovely little kids were saying.]
Advocacy
I have sort of fallen into this and then discovered I am quite good at it and enjoy it. I am quite happy to help an individual right a wrong. and occasionally I see an opportunity to put in the same amount of effort to help a far greater amount of people.
Covid-19 & MS Video Series
In March 2020 I started to front the Shift.ms video series that is produced with the aim of informing, educating and empowering patients with MS to manage questions and anxieties about the Coronavirus. Using a range of leaders in the field we have (and continue to do so at time of writing this) made videos about the drugs we take, the care we receive both in hospital and general practice, the research being done and the physical therapies to take part in. A few examples below:
Disabled Person’s Railcard
In 2019 I got the Rail Delivery Group – who manage the various Railcards in the UK – to acknowledge that MS, by its variable nature and that it is a listed condition in the 2010 Equality Act (UK legislation), should not have any qualification thresholds attached and even if it isn’t visibly manifesting itself an MS diagnosis automatically qualifies an MS patient to apply for and be granted a Disabled persons Railcard.
Daily Updates Author
On the blog that forms the backbone of the Shift.ms community I was writing a daily update about MS and Covid-19. It is an opportunity to share research roundups and some silly fun personal commentary too. A few examples below:
https://shift.ms/topic/daily-briefing-covid-19-1th-april-2020
https://shift.ms/topic/daily-briefing-covid-19-9th-april-2020
theMSguide.com blog 