Colorado Man Stays Positive Despite Living With MS
DENVER (CBS4) - It can be easy to take the little things in life for granted, but one man manages to keep a positive outlook, despite having so many of the little things taken away from him.
David Sloan is a successful business man, husband and father with a passion for travel.
"My wife and I used to love to go scuba diving," Sloan said.
But life changed dramatically one day when a doctor diagnosed Sloan with progressive multiple sclerosis.
"This disease will help you find the very bottom of the trough," he said.
Suddenly the former football player would be forced to raise his children from a wheelchair.
"It's just hard on the whole family unit because dad can't be the dad that he used to be," Sloan said.
MS steals the simple things most people take for granted, such as standing. It destroys the connections within patients' minds and bodies and puts stress on families.
"One thing that I really miss is being able to hold my wife's hand and just take a long walk with her."
Sloan has tried every medication his doctors have suggested but none have been able to slow his MS.
"We've got to figure out a way to stop the disease."
Despite the odds, Sloan is full of hope that researchers will find a way to fix his nervous system and reestablish some of those broken connections.
"That will help me get to the point that I can walk again."
In fact, he wrote a book about his personal philosophy called "One Step at a Time," which has become an inspiration to others.
"People look at you and say, 'How can you be still smiling?' " Sloan said. "In my case the alternative is unacceptable … I just want to keep doing as much as I can."
Join the MS Society and participate in Walk MS at Denver's City Park to raise money for the services and research aimed at making life better for almost 100,000 people in Colorado and Wyoming whose lives are affected by MS. Registration and activities begin at 7:30 a.m. and the walk begins at 9:30 a.m.
LINKS: Walk MS | "One Day at a Time"
