Team Hope Mississippi’s fourth annual “Walk, Run, and Ride” is set for Saturday, May 17 in Flowood, an event that raises awareness and research funding for Huntington’s Disease.
Around 200 families across the state are affected by Huntington’s disease, a terminal neurogenerative disorder that leads to the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain, while an estimated 41,000 suffer from the disease in the U.S.
During Huntington’s Disease Awareness Month, Team Hope leaders are not only aiming to spark conversation around the destructive disease but also show those suffering from it that they have scores of supporters standing behind them.
“We’re trying to find people suffering from this disease and let them know they’re not alone,” Heather Thurgood Wilmoth, an advocacy leader for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, told Good Things with Rebecca Turner.
Thurgood Wilmoth’s family is one of the 200 in Mississippi affected by Huntington’s disease, with her husband Nathan diagnosed in 2016, and her stepchild diagnosed more recently in 2024. She has led the charge in Mississippi to shed light on the disease under the umbrella of the national organization HDSA, an effort that seems to be taking root.
“When Nathan first got diagnosed in 2016, I always had to explain it,” Thurgood Wilmoth said. “Now I’ll say, ‘Well, he’s got Huntington’s disease. It’s like having ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s all at the same time.’ And people cut me off and say, ‘I know what that is.’ So, it’s working. Slowly, but it’s working.”
Work by Thurgood Wilmoth and others has borne other fruit, such as bringing an HDSA Center of Excellence to Mississippi. The center, housed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, is one of 60 across the U.S. that brings together social workers, support groups, and a multi-disciplinary partnership of medical professionals to provide care and treatment for those with Huntington’s disease.
The upcoming Team Hope Walk will take place at Flowood Nature Park on Saturday, May 17, at 9 a.m., with in-person registration opening an hour earlier. Participants can also register online here.
Thurgood Wilmoth hopes the walk will be another step toward a higher end.
“With awareness comes funding, with funding comes research, and with research comes hope for a treatment or a cure,” Thurgood Wilmoth concluded. “That’s what we want, ultimately.”
To learn more about Huntington’s, visit the HDSA website.
