Irish blogger defies Parkinson’s and travels to all corners of the world, including Malta!
Maura Ward has an incredible story to tell.
A 69-year-old Irish mammy (mama) has defied the odds and travelled across the world despite her Parkinson’s diagnosis. She's visited countless countries, including the Netherlands, Afghanistan... and Malta! The transition to dealing with the disease was a challenge at first, but she pushed herself to keep persevering. #YouGoGirl!
Maura Ward, from Kilkeel in Ireland was diagnosed back in 2013. The disease was most definitely not going to stop her from living the life she dreamt of. So, Maura, who documents her adventures on her Geriatric Traveller blog, took on a number of challenges - including sky diving for her 65th birthday! She's a legend if you ask me.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Maura said that, “It was such a shock even though I knew it was coming.” The mama-of-two said she initially had to say goodbye to her adventurous side. “I knew it would make a difference to my life and wallowed in self-pity for about two or three months.”
Parkinson’s has affected some of her motor skills and her ability to walk, which has resulted in her using a cane at times. But, despite the diagnosis, the retired social worker started to plan her adventures.
Maura has solo travelled to countries like Burkina, Faso, Eritrea, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Baghdad, Jordan, Togo, Italy, Chicago, Las Vegas, NYC, Vietnam and even Malta! But her favourite travel buddy? Her son, Johnny. The 34-year-old is also a travel blogger who has visited every country in the world (yep, all 197 of them), completing his tour in 2017 by visiting Norway.
Her next adventure? Maura will be climbing Mount Fuji in July for her 70th birthday with Johnny and a group of 14 others. Her climb will be in aid of Cure Parkison’s charity, in the hopes of raising £8,000 (around €9,300). The climb will take about 36 hours to complete and preparations for her next big adventure are underway.
You can donate to Maura’s charity climb by visiting her GoFundMe page.