Woman’s Weekly Living Series – July 2019

When Trishna

Bharadia was

diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis

11 years ago, she

vowed not to let

it hold her back

T

here’s a sunflower-

yellow dress in

Trishna’s wardrobe

that reminds her

life is for living, and that

amazing opportunities can

come your way whatever

your circumstances.

It’s the dazzling outfit she

wore when she danced with

Strictly Come Dancing star

Aljaž Škorjanec on The

People’s Strictly for Comic

Relief – a BBC special in

which six inspirational but

‘everyday’ people competed.

Trishna danced the jive

and, from such a sure-footed,

high-octane display, you’d

never guess the 39-year-old

from Buckinghamshire

suffers from a chronic illness.

In 2008,

Trishna was

diagnosed

with relapsing,

remitting MS.

This condition

of the central

nervous system

can cause a range of

symptoms, including fatigue

and problems with limb

movement, balance and

vision. It affects around

100,000 people in the UK.

‘My diagnosis was a

shock,’ she says. ‘I thought

the numbness I’d been

experiencing down one side

of my body was a trapped

nerve or

repetitive

strain injury.

I’d never

considered

MS at all.

‘It was a

turning point

• it gave me the proverbial
  kick up the whatsit, and made
  me think about the things
  I wanted to do and how

I wanted to live my life.

So I made a bucket list.’

At the top was voluntary

work to raise awareness of

MS as well as the needs of

chronic-illness sufferers

generally. Trishna became

an ambassador for several

charities – writing, blogging

and speaking to the media –

and at a variety of events,

including at 10 Downing

Street and the Houses

of Parliament.

‘It’s so out of my comfort

zone,’ she says. ‘I’d never

done public speaking and

I was painfully shy as a child,

but talking about something

you know

and are

passionate

about gives

you the confidence to do

things you’d never have

dreamt possible.’

Trishna has been named

a Woman of Achievement

and European Patient

Advocate of the Year, and

she’s received a Points of

Light and WeAreTheCity

Rising Stars Award for her

charity work.

She fits the work around her

full-time job as a translator

and the often-debilitating

symptoms of her illness,

which for Trishna include

pain, numbness and

crippling fatigue. But it’s

the unpredictability of her

condition (she lost all feeling

in her foot just weeks before

she was due to dance in front

start living

Getting MS

was my cue to

‘It made me

think about how

I wanted to live

my life’

y

a

p

a

th fifid

A highlight was dancing

with Strictl ’s Aljaž

Trishna has

grown in confidence