Michelle and Aaron Taylor during this year’s MS Gong Ride. Photo: Supplied.
When Michelle Taylor’s husband first rode in the MS Gong Ride, she never imagined just four months later she would be diagnosed with the very condition they were fundraising for.
Now living with multiple sclerosis (MS), the Shellharbour mother has turned her diagnosis into determination — leading Team MICH to become a 2025 top fundraiser with more than $126,000, and raising more than half a million dollars for research and support since forming for the MS Gong Ride in 2019.
This year, the ever-growing team even included Michelle and Aaron’s 14-year-old son who took part in the iconic ride from Sydney to Wollongong earlier this month for the first time.
“I pulled out Aaron’s photo from the 2018 ride when he had just a boring old bike, with the kids there, and I was struggling to walk around and get to the finish line and see him,” she said.
“It was hot and I was really unwell. It was a really awful day for me.
“He was just doing it for a fun thing to do and as a personal challenge.
“It was four or five months after the ride that I got diagnosed.
“We were like, this is a thing now for us, this is where we can actually make an impact.”
Michelle’s journey with the invisible disease started with two broken ankles and increasing mobility problems.
“I broke my ankle twice – two years in a row,” she said.
“I was recovering, and was at the gym and I just couldn’t walk around the room.
“I had no balance, I was really floppy, and the trainer pulled me aside and said, ‘I really think you need to go and see somebody.’”
Michelle said daily life at that time meant being unable to drive home from work due to poor vision, struggling to stay on her feet in her Get Dressed Hire business as a result of constant fatigue and balance issues, being unable to walk to the nearby post office to post dresses, writing illegible customer details and struggling to talk at times.
She said at that first MS Gong Ride, she battled with the trek from the carpark to the ride in the heat, making her anxious and stressed – all elements that made her symptoms worse.
“I got referred to a neurologist and he pretty much picked it on the spot,” she said.
“The next day, I was in hospital starting treatment.
“We were just so relieved to finally have a diagnosis after being so unwell for such a long time.”
Despite Michelle’s MS being progressive, she remains incredibly positive.
“I’m just trying to maintain my current level of mobility, stay healthy and fit, be well, stay stress free and mentally happy, so I can maintain a good lifestyle,” she said.
“I’ve got an electric wheelchair recently and that’s taken a bit of getting used to.
“It’s confronting and it’s scary, but I’m just having to navigate that and take on my new reality.”
She said Team MICH had grown from 10 riders in 2019 to 65 cyclists this year, not only helping raise awareness of the disease but creating a community that allowed Michelle to help others like her.
“It’s really about connecting to the community,” Michelle said.
“In the team this year, we’ve had two new riders come on board whose wives have just been diagnosed in the past 12 months.
“We also had another guy come up to us at the tent who said he rode on his own, has had MS for 26 years, and he wants to join our team next year.
“Each year we keep picking up new people. It’s just that real feeling of belonging and that community spirit.
“It’s so people don’t feel alone. A lot of people have my number now and are reaching out and it’s nice to be able to talk and connect with people going through the same thing I went through.”
When asked what she wanted others to know about living with MS, Michelle said it was often an invisible condition – and that a simple act of kindness could make a big difference.
“I’ve met a lot of new people over the past week and often people, because they can’t see the symptoms, they don’t know whether they should ask if you need a hand,” she said.
“I always think, always offer to help. Us with MS, we appreciate the offer of assistance anytime, even when we might not need it.
“I’m a very proud and independent person, but I have learned to say yes and I have learned to ask for help.
“Even if we might look well, we can often be battling on the inside.”
She said donations from MS Gong Ride helped MS Plus provide essential services from accommodation to support for those newly diagnosed.
