Campaigning alongside her husband, Ann Romney looks healthy, giving little sign of the multiple sclerosis she was diagnosed with in 1998. But during the early days of her diagnosis, Romney went from fit to having trouble even getting out of bed — and feared that the future might even be more difficult for her:
Ann Romney wondered how long her ability to walk, even with difficulty, would last. She recalls thinking, “I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up in a wheelchair, pretty sure I’m going to be really bad.” She resolved to take action and made a decision: “I want to do things that I love so much in life before I can’t do them anymore.”
So Romney bought a horse, Buddy. Romney is quick to tell me that Buddy wasn’t an “expensive” horse. “Having him,” she says, “was like the coolest thing in the world.” Buddy was a trail and first-level dressage horse, and he was Romney’s companion in those days. “I was pretty lonely,” she admits.
My full piece on Romney and her struggle with MS here.