A peak performance

Classmates Meg Hasek-Watt and Jessie Sheppard. (Nick Pearce Photo)

When one more stroke seems like too much, or one more step seems like one too many, Jessie Sheppard will think about her Dal classmate Meg Hasek-Watt and her daily battle with arthritis.

“I chose Meg as my inspiration,” says Ms. Sheppard, 26, from Pinawa, Manitoba. “She’s young and she has arthritis—I think people know that arthritis affects people who are elderly, but it strikes children and youth as well.”

“I feel very odd about it all,” responds Ms. Hasek-Watt, with a laugh. “I feel like I should wear a cape and proclaim, ‘I’m an arthritis hero!’ I’m behind her 200 per cent. She’s doing some crazy things I would love to do.”

This summer, Ms. Sheppard will embark on a two-stage arthritis-awareness adventure: first, a swim across the Northumberland Strait from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island in the shadow of Confederation Bridge in July; then, a hike to the peak of Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, in August.

“I would rather do it in secret,” she confesses. “But then I thought I may as well channel it to a good cause.”

She’s been training hard all winter: running twice a week and swimming lengths of the pool two or three times a week. She also bikes from Dartmouth to Dalhousie in good weather, is a scuba instructor and loves to play  tackle football.

She signed up for the Arthritis Society’s Joints in Motion’s Kilimanjaro hike last September, “but then the health promoter in me comes out and says I should promote an activity that people with arthritis can do, like swimming.” That’s when she decided to add the 13-kilometre swim across the strait.

As well as training and going to graduate school (“Oh that,” she laughs), Ms. Sheppard is also raising money for Joints in Motion. She’s halfway toward her goal of $9,000.

“There are so few people who understand arthritis in young people,” says Ms. Hasek-Watt, who was diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis 10 years ago, when she was 17. “It makes sense for me to want to talk about it because I have it.

“But for Jessie!” Ms. Hasek-Watt shakes her head in amazement. “It’s wonderful to have a champion out there like Jessie.”

The two women share a lot in common: both are taking their master’s degrees in health promotion at Dalhousie and are planning summer weddings. But incredibly, they hadn’t met in person until last week—Ms. Hasek-Watt has been doing her degree long distance after a friend’s death last year called her home to Vancouver. They struck up a friendship after Ms. Sheppard sent e-mails to her classmates letting them know what she was up to. Ms. Hasek-Watt e-mailed back to thank her and they’ve been tight Facebook friends ever since.

“Thank you,” said Ms. Hasek-Watt, giving her friend a hug. “Thank you for everything.”  

To sponsor Jessie Sheppard’s efforts regarding arthritis, you can donate via her Joints in Motion webpage.