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In his late 30s, Steve had a thriving career in the fitness industry and a loving wife, Rebecca, when he noticed a tremor in his fingers and hands.

At first, doctors told him it couldn’t be Parkinson’s, “because I was too young and too healthy”, Steve
remembers.

He was put on a range of medications but nothing really worked. Eventually, a specialist asked him to try some tablets. Steve felt fantastic on them and reported back to the specialist, who told him that the diagnosis could be confirmed as Parkinson’s.

“My jaw hit the floor, I said, “What are you talking about?” The specialist said, “Well, it’s Parkinson’s
medication you’re on. So, it has to be Parkinson’s.””

Suddenly, at the age of 40, Steve’s world came crashing down.

While it was a relief to finally have a diagnosis, the news was a devastating blow for Steve and Rebecca. For the first 18 months afterwards, Steve was in complete denial.

“I thought my life, my job, and everything I was used to was pretty much over.”

Struggling with depression, Steve and Rebecca eventually reached out to Parkinson’s NSW. We connected them with a counsellor, who helped them change the way they were seeing things.

“She was fantastic. She helped put things into perspective, making it much easier to cope.”

Thanks to this support, Steve found the strength to begin rebuilding his life – through boxing. He started with just one session every fortnight or so and gradually developed the strength and confidence to do sessions every day.

“Boxing is actually a perfect exercise for Parkinson’s. Not only does it give you bouts of high
intensity interval training, but it works your brain because you have to remember the
combinations and think about a lot of things all at once.”

Today, he acts as a personal trainer for many clients with Parkinson’s themselves and he credits exercise for helping him dramatically slow the progression of his disease.

Six years ago, he also decided to support the Parkinson’s community even more by joining the Board of Parkinson’s NSW. And he knows first-hand the power our services have to make a real difference, from our Infomation Line (InfoLine) and Counselling health professionals, to our regional Parkinson’s Specialist Nurses.

When one of Steve’s clients turned up for a personal training session one day, unable to remember even his
own name or basic details of his life, Steve thought perhaps he was having a stroke. A call to our InfoLine saved the day.

“We talked to a Parkinson’s nurse who worked out he just hadn’t drunk enough water. She got
the situation under control fast, without the need to visit hospital.”

Even though this is one of the fastest growing diseases in Australia, there’s not nearly enough support for the complex needs of people living with Parkinson’s.

We’re trying to do as much as we can.

We are a small organisation but our impact is massive. The government only provides three percent of our funding. Finding the money for everything we do is a huge challenge every year and we rely on you to help us do it.

Most of all, you’re letting people with Parkinson’s know that they aren’t alone. That their life may have
changed, but it’s not over. That means so much.

Steve's message to you

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