Name:

Tina M Liebetrau

Country of residence:

USA

Age:

52

Occupation:

CPA

What is your relationship with your MS walking partner?

Friends (Ines Grau). We have not met yet but I think of her as a daughter already. We will meet for the first time in Amsterdam, en route to Tanzania.

How has a diagnosis of MS affected your relationship with your walking partner?

What are your current views/feelings of your MS walking partner’s life with Multiple Sclerosis?

Well, when I received Ines’ first e-mail I cried. I have two daughters about her age and I felt so sad that she will have this to live with her whole life. Her spirit was so vivid in her first e-mail, I remember thinking this girl sees no limits from the MS and she has much to teach others with MS.

What has motivated you to take part in the Kilimanjaro climb and to be a walking partner for people with MS?

I heard Lori speak. I thought that ‘some time’ I would want to climb Mt Kili. I thought about it a lot after that first speech. I heard her speak again and knew that this should be my ‘some time’. I was already involved with the MS 150 bike ride and thought this would be a good way to continue to help call attention to the disease while going on the adventure of a lifetime.

What is your previous experience of hiking/climbing?

I fell in love with hiking while taking a church youth group hiking in the Appalanchian Mountains. I have relatives that live in Colorado and would hike in the Rocky Mountains once a year.

How do you plan to support your MS walker companion during the Kilimanjaro climb?

Who knows? Maybe my MS partner will be stronger that me and pushing me up the mountain! This is a wonderful girl who has been training hard. I will constantly be saying “Ines, I know we can do this!” One step at a time.

What hopes/aspirations do you have before and after the Kilimanjaro climb?

I hope to make it to the top of the mountain so that when I get down I can use the experience to raise more money for the MS bike ride in August.