Chris Anderson is no stranger to bad winters. He lives in Minnesota — a state that gets, on average, between 35–70 inches of snow every year, depending on where you live.
In the winter, the average temperature can get as low as 18 to 8°F (-7 to -13°C).
And as someone living with multiple sclerosis (MS), this cold, frigid weather affects him more than most.
“The colder it gets, the shakier my legs get,” he says. “It makes it very difficult for me to move around in the colder months.”
After losing about 85 percent of his eyesight due to optic neuritis, inflammation of the optic nerve, Anderson was first diagnosed with MS in September 2004. At the time, he was working as a middle school social studies’ teacher.
While his eyesight did more or less recover, he soon developed other symptoms of MS including leg weakness, balance issues, and extreme fatigue.
The extreme winter weather in his state exacerbates many of these symptoms. While Anderson says he normally uses ice cleats on his shoes, along with a walking stick with a metal tip to prevent falls, it hasn’t always helped. During an especially icy recent winter, Anderson slipped on the icy pavement, suffering a traumatic brain injury.