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RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2019 :: RMTnews 25 M y name is Neil Owen and I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I’m a signaller in the West Midlands Signalling Centre (WMSC), Birmingham, and I represent the Midlands region on RMT’s Disabled Members’ Advisory Committee. In 2005, I noticed my right eye vision seemed strange. The optician referred me for investigation. Eighteen months of eye tests, blood tests and MRI scans later, the consultant told me that I had a very minor case of MS. Fast forward to 2012/2013: My vision was playing up again and I was suffering from anxiety, panic attacks and depression and falling over for no apparent reason. I was a Mobile Operations Manager (MOM), dealing with every railway incident imaginable (fatalities, dewirements, trespass etc) that needed me to go trackside. It got to the point that I hated going to work as I couldn’t work out what was wrong with me. The thought of going trackside, especially at night on my own, was making me physically sick. I kept it hidden from work as best I could. My marriage had broken down and I can’t believe how close I came to suicide. I still have my self-harm scars. After several 999 calls due to panic attacks, I went to my GP who sent me to hospital. After more tests and scans I was finally diagnosed in March 2014 with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) and told that I did have full-blown MS back in 2007. From then on, I kept my employer, Network Rail, appraised of my situation. The trackside working environment presented barriers to me, so I chose to get away from it and went back to being a signaller. Quite rightly, occupational health barred me from working trackside. In January 2019, my consultant diagnosed me with moving onto the next stage: Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS). Railway Pensions say I can retire now on ill-health grounds as MS is classed as an incurable debilitating disease. But I feel I have a few more years left in me as long as my MS doesn’t deteriorate. On my current medications life is bearable albeit a daily taxation on all my senses. More information on multiple sclerosis at www.mstrust.org DISABLED MEMBERS SPEAK OUT LIVING AND WORKING WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS