Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

This 69-Year-Old Mom Was Diagnosed With Parkinson's So She Decided To Climb Mt. Fuji For A Good Cause

When 69-year-old Maura Ward was diagnosed with Parkinson's, she could have scaled back her activity and stayed inside more. Instead, she took her ailment as an opportunity to go out and see the world while she still could. Ward started a Facebook page called Geriatric Traveler, which she fills with pictures of her exploits, and, now, she's using it to find support for her plan to climb Mount Fuji.



Though Parkinson's is a degenerative neurological disease which will, over time, give Ward less and less control over her body, the North Ireland native sees it as an opportunity:

"I just get on with things and I have no qualms telling people about my diagnosis, I know a lot of people worse off than me. That is just my mentality. I just have to know my own limits, also nothing that involves being in a box or confined, I am very claustrophobic."


GoFundMe


GoFundMe


GoFundMe

After being diagnosed in 2013, Ward will this year be celebrating her 70th birthday. And how better to commemorate the occasion than to climb Mt. Fuji, the tallest peak in Japan (3,776m)! Ward insisted that all proceeds go towards Parkinson's research to help ensure the next generation will be better off than hers.

The geriatric traveller began a GoFundMe to help finance her trip up the mountain and, as of the writing of this article, she was nearly half-way to her £8,000 goal.

GoFundMe

Ward's travels have already included "Afghanistan, down the Amazon in Ecuador, retracing the silk route through Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, eastern European adventures around Georgia and Abkhazia, long distance night-buses through Peru," and she shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.




Social media was inspired by Ward's determination to grab life by the horns!





Maura Ward Interview on TV3, inspiring geriatric traveler with Parkinson's Disease!www.youtube.com

You go, Maura! We could all stand to learn a lesson in living life from someone as adventurous as you.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshot of Michael Waltz
Fox News

Trump Official Dragged After Suggesting 'Atlantic' Editor 'Hacked' Into Signal Group Chat

Speaking to Fox News personality Laura Ingraham, national security adviser Michael Waltz suggested that Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg hacked his phone to gain access to a Signal chat with high-level Trump administration officials, particularly Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussing military strategy surrounding war strikes in Yemen.

Waltz made this claim even though he had previously acknowledged setting up the Signal group in question, while President Donald Trump suggested that it was one of Waltz’s associates who added Goldberg.

Keep ReadingShow less
Denzel Washington
Ivan Romano/Getty Images

Denzel Washington Sparks Debate After Pushing Back On Being Called A 'Hollywood Actor'

If you ever get a chance to talk to Denzel Washington about his acting craft, be careful how you address him.

Big-time actors Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal are currently starring in a Broadway rendition of Othello, which is the first Shakespeare play to be produced on Broadway in more than 40 years, alongside other big actors and producers traditionally found in Hollywood-based productions.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pedro Pascal
Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

Pedro Pascal Left Red-Faced After Photo Reveals His Bonkers Morning Coffee Order

There are some things that should be between you and the person you worked with to get it: your medical prescriptions, the number of packages you receive from online shopping, and your coffee order.

Actor Pedro Pascal was recently being interviewed on Jimmy Kimmel Live when the host brought up how a paparazzi had accidentally revealed Pascal's coffee order in an image from last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gwyneth Paltrow; Meghan Markle
Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images; Samir Hussein/WireImage

Gwyneth Paltrow And Meghan Markle Epically Shut Down Rumors That They're Feuding

The newest Hollywood feud is the one in which actor Gwyneth Paltrow and Meghan Markle are at each other's throats after Paltrow mocked Markle's new Netflix show.

The only problem—it apparently never happened.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
Newsmax

Trump Slammed After Touting Plan To Financially Compensate Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioters

President Donald Trump is facing criticism after suggesting the creation of a "compensation fund" for individuals who were pardoned after participating in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

In one of his first official actions upon returning to office, Trump granted sweeping clemency to nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the riot. He issued pardons to most defendants and commuted the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, many of whom had been convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Keep ReadingShow less