Bikers raise money for MS in a 150-mile cycling tour.
When Kelly Moffatt was born 10 weeks prematurely, she had only a 10 percent chance of survival. On Saturday, Moffatt, a 23-year-old MU student with cerebral palsy, was one of the nearly 2,400 cyclists to bike through Columbia streets to raise money for multiple sclerosis.
“I’ve beaten the odds in more ways than one,” she said.
Now Moffatt, who pedaled an adapted bike with her arms, hopes to help those with MS also beat the odds.
The MS 150 Bike Tour, organized by the St. Louis-based Gateway Area Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, chose Columbia for the first time as the location for its 19th annual tour. It expects to raise more than $1.3 million to finding a cure for MS, a potentially disabling disease of the central nervous system that is often developed by adults between the ages of 20 and 40.
About 187 people in Boone County are registered with MS, said Amy Burger, communications manager for the Gateway Area Chapter. The disease, which may cause double vision, fatigue, muscle spasms and paralysis, affects more than 400,000 Americans.
The MS 150 began at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the Boone County Fairgrounds. Participants took two days to make the 150-mile ride. Riders came from all over Missouri and as far as Massachusetts and Florida.
The event is not meant to be competitive.