FRIENDS whose families have been devastated by multiple sclerosis spent a year tackling the most extreme challenges they could devise, from braving the North Sea on Boxing Day to cycling 150 miles in the pouring rain and running a T-Rex race night.

But it’s all paid off for Sarah Cowper and Natasha Hambly, from Northallerton, who have raised over £4,100 for the MS Society with potentially more to come in from a dinosaur race night planned in the Falklands.

Ms Hambly’s dad Raymond had the symptoms of MS for 18-years but was only diagnosed 13-years-ago. She explained: “It is not uncommon for a MS diagnosis to take a long time.

"My dad had relapse remission MS where he can become very unwell but then recover.

"However at the beginning of this year he had a relapse that effected all one side of his body, and the recovery was so slow my dad was forced to take medical redundancy.

"He has recovered much of what he lost, but unfortunately now all employers see is the MS and not my dad, an engineer with a wealth of experience, which they are willing to pass over for the fear he might get sick again.

"MS has meant our family has had to re-adapt what the future holds for us.

“Sarah’s step-dad Colin became ill in 2010 with a suspected infection.

"At the age of 48 his symptoms started with weakness in his hands and severe pain in his back and legs.

"After a year of fighting he had no choice but to leave work.

"It took four years for Colin to receive his MS diagnosis.

"Colin has primary progressive MS, where symptoms get progressively worse.

"By the time the diagnosis had been reached he’d already lost his much of his mobility. Sarah cannot recall the last time Colin left the the house, having now spent almost ten years housebound.”

The MS society is working towards developing a cure, but also raising awareness of the condition and supporting people living with the disease.

The friends launched their fundraiser with a Boxing Day dip in 2018 and finished it a year later with another dip dressed as Vikings.

Ms Hambly added: “We wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped, driving us about, wearing stupid costumes, politely eating bad baking, listening to us bothering people for sponsorship and then jamming their social media with stupid, albeit hilarious, photographs.

“We’d like to say thanks to everyone who donated.

"We appreciate every single penny because it is all going towards the work of the MS Society.

"I want to say thank you to Sarah, for putting up with me anxiously planning every stage of every event, and for blindly trusting me."

Ms Hambly said it that it takes 'a special kind of friend' to embrace the fundraising challenges with such enthusiasm.

She added: "It’s been an absolute blast, and I’m so proud of us for what we have achieved.”