Canton man teams with news anchor in fight against MS

As the weekday evening anchor for 7News Boston, Adam Williams is a regional celebrity with a lot of demands on his time.

Adam Williams (left) and Brian Moore-Ward

However, when close friend Brian Moore-Ward of Canton recently asked if he would join his team of “B’s Climbing Fools” in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s sixth annual Climb to the Top Boston at the John Hancock Tower, Williams not only agreed to participate; he offered up his talents and professional connections to aid in the fundraising effort.

“Brian is one of my closest friends, if not my best friend, and helping him out was very important to me,” Williams said of Moore-Ward, who also serves as the chief crew member on Williams’ hot air balloon, Peacock.

While his original idea — tethered hot air balloon rides at Pequitside Farm — unfortunately had to be scratched due to weather concerns, Williams came up with what he hopes will be a suitable alternative: a chance to win a private tour and watch a live news broadcast at the WHDH studios in downtown Boston.

The rules of the contest are rather simple: Between now and February 1, anyone who donates $50 or more to B’s Climbing Fools or any individual team member will be automatically entered into a raffle. On February 2, five names will be drawn, and the winners will each receive a private studio tour for them and four of their friends.

“A lot of people have never had the opportunity to walk through a live television broadcast, and people who win this tour get that chance,” explained Williams, who will also complete the 1,200-stair climb alongside Moore-Ward on March 7. “It’s really a neat experience if people have never seen all of the work and production that goes into even a 30-minute live broadcast.”

More importantly, according to Williams, donors will gain the satisfaction of knowing they helped bring much-needed funds and awareness to an incurable, unpredictable, and often disabling disease — one that affects more than 2.5 million people across the globe and leads to a wide range of neurological problems, from numbness and tingling to muscle spasms and fatigue.

In Moore-Ward’s case, he had been experiencing symptoms for several months and was initially diagnosed with carpel tunnel syndrome before a bad fall led him to a pain specialist, who reviewed his history and suggested he might have MS.

“At that time, the only thing I knew about MS was from a Family Guy episode,” joked Moore-Ward, who was ultimately diagnosed with the “relapsing-remitting” form of the disease.

During the initial flareup, he lost feeling on his right side and also lost sight in his right eye for a brief period. But he quickly began an aggressive treatment protocol — which included a daily injection for the first five years and a high-dose steroid infusion — and he has been mostly symptom-free ever since.

“Luckily, I’ve kept pretty much a positive attitude about it all, which is key,” said Moore-Ward. “Otherwise it will gnaw at your brain.”

Moore-Ward started B’s Climbing Fools for the inaugural Climb to the Top in 2010, and he has successfully completed the climb — all 61 flights — every year since while raising thousands of dollars for the National MS Society.

The event itself has grown considerably over the past six years and now attracts more than 500 participants from across New England, including dozens of area fire departments that complete the climb in full gear as part of the Firefighter Challenge.

On his fundraising page at nationalmssociety.org, Moore-Ward explains that he registered for the climb because “I have MS and want to do something for others who also have been diagnosed — and because I want to do everything to prevent more people from having to live with this disease.”

Adam Williams (right) and Brian Moore-Ward met at a 7News
Health & Fitness Expo and became fast friends.

He has also been fortunate to gain new team members every year, and he is thrilled to welcome his friend and ballooning partner Williams for the 2015 event.

And while Williams joked that he was “ordered” to make this his first year with B’s Climbing Fools, the truth is that he has learned a lot about MS through his friendship with Moore-Ward and he is eager to do his part in the fight against the disease.

“You want to help in any way you can,” said Williams. “Nobody wants to see someone they care about go through such a trying and at this point incurable [ordeal].”

Williams said his friendship with Moore-Ward has in many ways come “full circle,” after the two met several years ago while working at the 7News Boston Medical Center Health and Wellness Expo — Williams for Channel 7 and Moore-Ward as a senior business systems analyst for BMC.

“I didn’t even know he had a health issue at the time,” said Williams. “And now here we are with Channel 7 giving back in a way of inviting people into our studio and helping raise money for such a great cause.”

On a personal level, the two friends share many similar interests, including hiking, a love of dogs, and of course, ballooning.

Moore-Ward said it was Williams, who grew up in Albuquerque — the ballooning capital of the world — who first encouraged him to give ballooning a try. “I was actually pretty fearful of heights,” he said. “But Adam’s such a great friend, and there’s no fear of heights for some reason when I’m up in the balloon. It’s very calming and peaceful.”

Both Williams and Moore-Ward agreed that ballooning is not only great fun, but also symbolic of the physical freedom that many people seem to take for granted.

“When you think about hot air ballooning, or hiking or biking, or climbing stairs, unless a cure is found or discovered [for MS], people like Brian won’t be able to do these things later in life,” said Williams, “and that’s what makes me passionate about finding a cure.”

“It’s definitely changed my outlook on a lot of things,” said Moore-Ward of his diagnosis. “You know, everything could be a lot worse, and part of the reason I do this stair climb is because I’m able to. I don’t limit myself from any kind of physical activity in any way, shape or form.”

Moore-Ward added that ballooning was something he had been obsessed with but was always too afraid to try. “But then someone gave me a picture of a balloon and said, ‘You’re going to do something with this’ … and it turned into a reality I never thought would happen.”

Click here to donate to B’s Climbing Fools and be entered into a drawing to win a private studio tour with Adam Williams.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Jan 1 2015. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.