Life Not Limits: The Real Stories Behind MSWA

MSWA Stories
The MSWA Mega Home Lottery is on sale now with a $3.1M Marmion home and $500,000 cash as the Grand Prize Package. Here’s how your ticket helps someone live life, not limits.

Life Not Limits: The Real Stories Behind MSWA

The MSWA Mega Home Lottery is on sale now with a $3.1M Marmion home and $500,000 cash as the Grand Prize Package. Here’s how your ticket helps someone live life, not limits.
MSWA Stories
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The MSWA Mega Home Lottery is back and Perthites have another chance to win one of two dream homes and lofty cash prize while helping those living with neurological conditions in WA. The overall prize pool is worth more than $8M, featuring two absolutely stunning, life-changing homes in Marmion and North Fremantle, two of Perth’s most sought-after coastal suburbs.

How Your Ticket Helps 

It’s all well and good to buy tickets in the hopes of winning your dream home, but how much do you actually know about the work of MSWA? Let’s see where the money goes.

Every time you buy a ticket to the draw, you’ll be supporting the work of MSWA  — from research into neurological conditions to the direct services and support they provide to west Aussies living with neurological conditions including multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, motor neurone disease, and acquired brain injury. 

Last financial year, MSWA was able to provide 856,000 hours of service support to more than 2,200 clients. Even more impressively, over the past decade, the support of West Aussies through donations and lottery tickets has allowed MSWA to commit more than $38M to life-changing research.

Real Stories

Listening to stories from people whose lives have been positively affected by the work of MSWA really highlights the importance of initiatives like the MSWA Mega Home Lottery. 

Susan Finlay — a Social Butterfly living with Spinocerebellar Ataxia

MSWA - Susan Finlay

Susan Finlay is a Social Butterfly living with Spinocerebellar Ataxia. The condition means she experiences the absence of voluntary muscle coordination and loss of movement control which affects gait stability, eye movement, and speech. Services such as social outreach, counselling, hydrotherapy and respite, allow Susan to live her version of best.

“You walk in the place [respite], and you are just welcomed. I know them all, they know what I do and don’t do, what I like and don’t like — I love going there.”

“MSWA can have as little or as much impact on your life as you choose. Everyone is just wonderful; they care very much for me. I love their personalities; I love their friendliness — they cannot do enough for me.”

“My life would be so different without MSWA in it — I don’t even want to think about it.”

Hayley — began experiencing Multiple sclerosis symptoms at age 16

MSWA - Hayley

Hayley began experiencing MS symptoms at just 16 years of age. Many doctors and ten years on, she was diagnosed with MS, allowing her to begin the journey of caring for her physical and mental wellbeing, supported along the way by MSWA. 

“MSWA has been there for me since the beginning — I couldn’t have done it without them. It’s really important to remember you aren’t MS. MS is part of your life, but it isn’t your life.” 

Chris McEncroe — a Thrill Seeker living with Guillain-Barré Syndrome

MSWA - Chris McEncroe

In a seven-year journey of relentless dedication, self-belief, and hard work, Chris McEncroe went from lying in a hospital bed on a ventilator to bringing home two medals for Australia at the 2023 Ambilympics held in Metz, France.

After feeling weakness in his arms and legs, Chris went to bed and never walked again. He was quickly diagnosed with Guillain-Barré, a syndrome which affects the peripheral nervous system — the network of nerves located outside the brain and spinal cord.

From the beginning, doctors told Chris about the possibility of never fully recovering. Citing people living with Guillain-Barré rarely made significant recoveries past the two-year mark. But giving up was never an option.

Chris said MSWA had been his partner in care from the beginning, when he relied on care support workers for getting out of bed, showering and dressing — but thankfully, these services are no longer needed thanks to his commitment to rehabilitation.

“I don’t use them as much for my personal care anymore, because I don’t need it — which is amazing. As I have gotten stronger, I found my own ways of being able to look after myself more. But they were there from the start,” he said.

When you purchase an MSWA Mega Home Lottery ticket you’re making a difference to West Aussies living with neurological conditions. Get your tickets here.

This article was created in partnership with MSWA.
Featured image: Supplied