Published by: CBC News
Written by: Sam Juric

“They’re like a charley horse,” says Rebecca Wilchynski, explaining the involuntary spasms that take hold of her legs — breathtaking and sudden.

“It’s not just in one muscle, it can be in all the muscles or a few,” she said. “Cerebral palsy, every case is individualized, and there are definitely more severe cases and some that are less severe. I have the less severe.”

Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition affecting body movement and muscle co-ordination, resulting from an injury to the brain. It does not get worse over time, though the exact symptoms can change over a person’s lifetime.

As a result of an injury to the brain, cerebral palsy interferes with messages from the brain to the body, and from the body to the brain.

“It’s very painful. I have spastic … and athetoid [cerebral palsy], which means they move without me wanting them to, so it can make life a little bit interesting.”  Click here to read the rest of the story