Warwick woman with MS leads team in MS Jet Pull this Saturday

Posted 10/8/15

The reason Betsy Rafferty of Warwick captains a team in the MS Jet Pull year after year is simple. 

“It is the best fundraiser ever!” she said. “How else could you get to hang out on an …

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Warwick woman with MS leads team in MS Jet Pull this Saturday

Posted

The reason Betsy Rafferty of Warwick captains a team in the MS Jet Pull year after year is simple. 

“It is the best fundraiser ever!” she said. “How else could you get to hang out on an airport tarmac, stand under a jet, and pull a jet 12 feet in less than five seconds? It’s awesome!” 

For the past seven years, Rafferty has led Betsy’s Buddies at the MS Jet Pull, which will be Oct. 10 at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick. The MS Jet Pull is a fun and challenging competition where teams of 25 people pull a FedEx 757 with only their hands. Rafferty’s team has raised more than $13,000 over the years for this National Multiple Sclerosis Society fundraiser. 

In 2005, Rafferty was diagnosed with the relapsing remitting form of MS and she has been a strong supporter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. She has participated in Walk MS, the MS 5K, the MS 25 Bike Quick Ride, and numerous MS Society events, raising thousands of dollars more. She says MS has affected her life in good and bad ways. 

“While I don’t feel like I’ve gotten any worse since my initial diagnosis, I get annoyed with the numbness in my extremities. It’s very difficult to do something repetitively with your hands and not be able to feel them, as I can’t when I type or wash dishes,” she said.

She has other symptoms, but she says she lives life to the fullest because she doesn’t know how she will feel next year or even 10 years from now. She appreciates the ample support she has received from her ex-husband, Thom Rafferty, from whom she had separated a year before her diagnosis.

“We became better friends because of it,” she said of her MS. “He accompanied me to my doctor’s appointments ... When I was put on a weekly intramuscular injection, he helped me with those. He has ridden in the 150-mile Bike MS 11 times!”

To sign up for the MS Jet Pull or start your own team, visit www.msjetpull.com. The registration fee is $50 per person and pullers and teams are still needed.

Spectators are invited to cheer on the teams and enjoy fun activities for the family and a delicious BBQ. The entrance fee for adults is $10; children 3 and older are $5; and children under 3 are free. No animals are permitted for their own safety, in keeping with airport rules.

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