Justice Major had days when she questioned why her. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). After learning how to live with the disease of the central nervous system, she has gotten to the point she said where she asks, “Why not me?”
Major, 32, was diagnosed with MS 11 years ago. She did not know what MS was.
At her diagnosis, Major said she was “distraught,” but at the same time happy to have gotten to a diagnosis, which she said was a process to get to.
“The whole process of wondering what I had was over,” said Major.
“Even though I was relieved to have the diagnosis, I still took it hard and wondered why I couldn’t be out there doing what other people were doing. So, I suffered in that way for years. It wasn’t until a couple years ago [that] I started accepting it with the help of time. Understanding not the disease, but my situation whereas even if I have it, it’s okay, and even if I don’t have it, it’s okay. So, in any event, I’m just going to remain grateful.”
The wheelchair user’s biggest challenge to date, she said, has been relinquishing her independence and maintaining a positive mindset.
“I have to rely on people now, for everything, whereas before, I could just get up and go.”
During the early onset of the disease, Major said she did not need a wheelchair right away. Having to rely on one she said was a gradual process over about two and a half years.
Major initially used a rollator walker, before she graduated to the wheelchair.
“Even when I was walking, I should have been using a cane, but I didn’t because I didn’t want to come off as someone who was disabled,” she said.
“Even though I am in a wheelchair, I feel like I am coping well with it, better than I was before. Before, I was in a position where I was constantly asking, ‘Why me?’ But it’s like, ‘Why not me?’ So, that’s my attitude, right now. Though my speaking is off, my eyes are off, and I’m in a wheelchair, I take it well, mentally.”
According to mayoclinic.org, MS is a disease that causes the immune system to attack myelin – the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers. This interrupts communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Eventually, the disease can cause permanent damage of the nerve fibers, leading to numbness, weakness, trouble with walking, vision changes and a host of other symptoms.
Symptoms include numbness or tingling; a painful electric shock from the neck down the spine, known as Lhermitte’s sign; lack of coordination; trouble with walking or not being able to walk at all; weakness and fatigue; partial or complete loss of vision, usually in one eye at a time, and painful eye movement (optic neuritis); double and blurry vision; vertigo; trouble with sexual, bowel or bladder function; slurred speech; trouble with memory, thinking and understanding information; and mood changes – all which Major experiences.
And while the cause of MS is not known, risk factors include being between the ages of 20 and 40; sex, as women are two to three times more likely to have relapsing-remitting MS; family history; certain infections, such as Epstein-Barr, which causes infectious mononucleosis; certain autoimmune conditions such as thyroid disease or type 1 diabetes; race, as those with white skin and Northern European descent are at highest risk; climate, as MS is more common in people who live in temperate climates; having low levels of and exposure to vitamin D; obesity; and smoking.
Major’s mother, Patricia Major, is her primary caregiver.
Patricia said it was during a visit to Florida in summer 2013 that her daughter’s legs gave out.
Major was 19 years old at the time.
“She kept saying her legs felt 10 times worse than it feels when they fall asleep,” said Patricia. “She said it was coming and going.”
She recalled visiting a big-box retailer and having to put her daughter in the cart and wheel her around the store because her legs were too weak for her to walk.
When they returned to New Providence, they sought medical attention for Major. She was diagnosed with generalized neuropathy and prescribed muscle relaxers. But she began experiencing severe headaches. At the encouragement of her sister, Shavonia Turnquest, she visited a neurologist who said she had to have an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) done. The family could not afford the cost at the time.
Major also started experiencing problems with her vision. She said it was during a class at the then-College of The Bahamas that she realized she could not see the notes on the board or her exam sheet.
“I saw an ophthalmologist, but she didn’t see anything.”
She said she returned to the neurologist, who insisted he could not make a diagnosis without an MRI but prescribed painkillers. Her symptoms, she said, did not improve.
After receiving financial relief, Major was able to have the MRI done.
She received an MS diagnosis.
Today, a typical day for Major consists of her watering plants, producing poetry and journaling through voice-to-text software, or watching videos on her cell phone to keep her mind busy.
Prior to her diagnosis, Major said she did not have much of a social life. However, the 32-year-old said she is trying something new this year.
“I have been going out more with one of my close friends, Jonette Rolle, about once or twice a month. We would go to a place out west to grab something to drink. One time, we went to the [National] Art Gallery [of The Bahamas].”
She was confirmed last year at Holy Family Catholic Church, which she has recently started reattending.
Major attends meetings twice a week with a counselor, which helps her keep a positive mindset. She also attends quarterly meetings with the MS Support Group of The Bahamas, founded in 2014, by fellow MS-diagnosed, David Beneby Jr. and is active on social media.
Major said she would like to be a motivational speaker.
While she no longer experiences pain just numbness, she said she is more concerned about the safety and accessibility of wheelchair users around the island and the country, and for Bahamians to be better educated about the condition.
“Physical therapy is expensive. I wish it was more readily available to wheelchair users and cheaper to afford. And for people in wheelchairs, I would like more accessible places for them to go, because a lot of places are upstairs. A lot of people ask what [MS] is. I want more people to know about it.”
Major, who said she lives a relatively quiet life, just wants to remain resilient.
“I don’t even want to say happy, because happy can be up and down. You can’t be happy all the time, it’s unrealistic. So, my goal in life is to remain resilient in my position, whatever that may look like.”
As far as her family is aware, there is no family history of the disease.
According to mayoclinic.org, the most common type of MS is a relapsing-remitting cycle, which is a period of remission that can be short or long term. During this cycle, patients will experience relapses with symptoms such as fatigue; numbness and tingling in the hands, arms, feet and legs; blurred vision, double vision or a total loss of vision; an unsteady gait; and generalized weakness, especially in the legs and arms.
Major, who wears glasses, said although she is not blind, her vision has worsened due to optic neuritis.
There is no cure for MS, but there are treatments to help speed up the recovery from attacks, modify the course of the disease, and manage symptoms.
Her mother and father, Gladstone Major, pay for medications she needs out of pocket. She said she last relapsed January 2025.
MS Awareness Week is recognized April 20-26. World MS Day is recognized May 30. This year’s theme is “My MS Diagnosis: Navigating MS Together.”
