How MS Navigators Help the MS Community
Who are MS Navigators?
How to Connect With MS Navigators
How MS Navigators Can Help
Personal Connections
On July 14, 2023, at 2:50 p.m., Nelson Fernandez hit the “lift” button on his electronic wheelchair, and it slowly elevated his body to allow him to see through a narrow window 6 feet off the ground, into an operating room where he watched his life change. He saw his wife, Sandra, give birth to their son Neil. The couple had planned for Nelson to attend the birth in a larger delivery room but when Sandra needed an emergency C-section, she was rushed into a smaller OR with no space for a seated observer. The room’s high, narrow windows were designed for light, not viewing. Nelson was only able to reach it because of the advanced capabilities of the power wheelchair that a Navigator helped him acquire by helping him navigate his health insurance coverage. “I’ll never forget it,” Fernandez says.“There’s more to the story though,” says Fernandez, 59, who was diagnosed with MS in 1998. The baby would not have existed were it not for that chair and the Navigator program that helped him find it, he says. For years, Fernandez had been using a clunky, basic, fold-up wheelchair. The upgrade, to a “430-pound seriously powerful machine” made it possible for the couple to fly to Colombia for IVF.“I’ve traveled the world with that chair,” he says. After Sweet helped him find additional batteries to extend the power cycle, the couple traveled from their home in Florida to visit family in Spain. While in Europe, they spent their wedding anniversary gazing up at the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo. “It was an amazing experience,” he says.In January 2025, Marcus Wallace clicked his seatbelt, started his Ford Edge and drove off for a meeting with the president of the Mid-America Chapter of the Society. Wallace has gone from not knowing about the Society’s existence to becoming a district activist leader and an MS Ambassador.The Society’s district activist leaders build relationships while educating members of Congress about the Society’s federal policy priorities. Wallace also spoke at the Black MS Experience Summit and is training to be a support group leader.His initial call to the Navigator program in 2023 led first to a gas card, which landed in the mailbox of a friend whose couch he occasionally slept on after he had mentioned having to cancel doctor’s appointments because he couldn’t afford to get there. Next, Sweet, Wallace’s Navigator, helped him find an apartment.“Once we could stabilize the basics, he could focus on healing,” Sweet says. “Even in the difficult situation he was in, I could tell he was a special human being with an important story to tell. He’s just an extraordinary person, seeing how far he has come on his MS journey from our first conversation to now. He has become an inspiration, a leader and advocate for others living with MS, and he keeps reaching higher.”Relationships, like the one she has with Wallace, are one of things she enjoys most about her work as a Navigator. “Watching people move through diagnosis, validation, acceptance to thriving — that’s what we want for everyone, right? To find meaning and happiness in their lives.”Navigators partner with people living with MS on that journey. “The program has been life-changing for me,” Wallace says. “And even life-saving.”
