As we celebrate 10 years of Parkinson’s Life, we look back at the trailblazing women who have made a difference over the past decade. From tech innovations to fundraising and advocacy, here are 10 articles about inspiring women dedicated to improving the lives of people living with Parkinson’s.
Inspiring women
May May Ali advocating for people with Parkinson’s
As the daughter of the former World Heavyweight Champion boxer Muhammed Ali, Maryum ‘May May’ Ali has long been a passionate campaigner and advocate for people with Parkinson’s. Her father was diagnosed with the disease in 1984 and died on 3 June 2016. Since 2002, May May has channelled her energy into supporting the US Parkinson Alliance and working as a national spokesperson for its annual Unity Walk for Parkinson’s.
A well-known face at the New York-based walking event, May May encourages people with Parkinson’s and their families to get together to help educate and empower, while raising money and awareness of the disease.
Ahead of the 2015 US Unity Walk, she spoke to Parkinson’s Life about the positive impact the walks have on the Parkinson’s community: “When I go to the US Unity Walk in New York, people are just very happy, very hopeful. They’re one big team and one big family.”
Read more about May May Ali
Olie Westheimer and Dance for PD
In June 2015, Parkinson’s Life spoke to Olie Westheimer, the recipient of Dr Rana International Parkinson’s Community Service Award, about her outstanding contribution to improving the lives of people with Parkinson’s. Olie was awarded the accolade on World Parkinson’s Day 2015, in recognition of her work as executive director of Brooklyn Parkinson Group and as the visionary behind Dance for PD.
Olie was inspired to develop a dance class for people with Parkinson’s after searching for one and finding none. The Dance for PD classes, which started in New York and have now spread around the world, are led by professional dancers and provide a meaningful community activity which Olie believes is “an important component to the long-term management of Parkinson’s.”
She says: “People with Parkinson’s and their partners often tell us that BPG classes, workshops and support groups are lifesaving.”
Read more about Olie Westheimer
How a smart watch changed one graphic designer’s life
Living with a hand tremor takes some getting used to, but for 33-year-old Emma Lawton – a professional graphic designer with young-onset Parkinson’s – it made work nearly impossible. In December 2016 she took part in a British TV show called ‘The Big Fix with Simon Reeve’ where engineers and designers invented life-changing solutions for people living with chronic conditions.
Microsoft Reearch’s Haiyan Zhang built a wearable tremor-reducing device to help Emma, and the results were instant. When wearing the device – named the Emma Watch – Emma was able to control a pen with much more accuracy.
“It makes me excited about the fact my future is back in my control, it’s back in my hands… it makes me forget that I have a tremor,” Emma said.
Read more about Emma Lawton
Banita Khanal sets up Nepal’s first Parkinson’s support group
Although Parkinson’s affects people all over the world, in some countries the support just isn’t in place to help those living with the condition. When Banita Khanal was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at 26, she was shocked to discover there were no support groups in her home country of Nepal.
Dedicated to creating a community for people with Parkinson’s, Banita took matters into her own hands and set up the group, Parkinsons’s Support Nepal (PSN).
The main aim was to raise awareness around the disease in Nepal, and speaking to Parkinson’s Life in 2017, Banita explained the challenges.
“Nepal is a country with poor economic resources, and we find the medical industry to be particularly stretched,” she said. “We firmly believe that by developing awareness about the condition we can secure far better funding to help fight the cause.”
Now, with over 1,800 followers on the PSN Facebook page, the community is really making a difference.
Read more about Banita Khanal
Kim Petrie’s rocking musical fundraiser
After the shock of a young-onset Parkinson’s diagnosis, Kim Petrie from Ontario, Canada tried to carry on life as normal, keeping the news private as she came to terms with it. However, she soon decided she wanted to do something productive and was inspired to organise a music-based fundraiser to benefit Parkinson’s charities.
“My husband is a musician, and I studied event planning at college,” Kim explained to Parkinson’s Life in 2017. “It just felt right to us, this was our silver-lining, what we felt we must do.”
Going public with her diagnosis after living with Parkinson’s for two years, Kim threw herself into planning the first event, a music concert called Let’s Shake in 2012, which raised over $25,000.
Running as an annual event, Let’s Shake had raised over $250,000 by 2017.
Read more about Kim Petrie
Globetrotting fundraiser Maura Ward
If ever there was a woman to show you that you can live a full life post-Parkinson’s diagnosis, it’s Maura Ward. Speaking to Parkinson’s Life in 2019, Maura shared her inspiring story of travelling the world whilst living with Parkinson’s – and raising thousands of pounds for Parkinson’s in the process.
“Parkinson’s has been the catalyst for me seeing as much as I possibly can when the going is good,” she told us. “ I have visited over 60 countries, more than half of which have been since my diagnosis.”
In 2018 she climbed Mount Fuji, with friends, family and supporters, helping to raise just under £14,000 for The Cure Parkinson’s Trust.
Read more about Maura Ward.
Tania Park, the CEO of Parkinson’s Africa
It was Bulgarian-born Tania Park’s love of football that originally led her to Africa. Volunteering for TackleAfrica, a charity that uses football to educate young adults about HIV in Africa, in Zambia 2007, she ended up travelling and volunteering around different African countries, before starting a career in the charity sector.
Parkinson’s Life spoke to Tania in 2023, just a few months after she was appointed CEO of Parkinson’s Africa.
“Our vision is that all African people impacted by Parkinson’s have access to the information, support and healthcare resources needed to live empowered lives,” she explained.
When taking over the role she told us she felt “excited” and “ready” to get involved in Parkinson’s Africa, the first pan-African Parkinson’s advocacy organisation dedicated to helping and empowering those affected by Parkinson’s across the continent.
Read more about Tania Park.
World’s first hormone study in women with Parkinson’s
In 2024 we reported on the launch of a groundbreaking study looking specifically at the impact of hormonal fluctuations on women with Parkinson’s.
Led by Professor Aideen Sullivan and Research fellow Lucy Collins-Stack at Ireland’s University College Cork (UC), in collaboration with Richelle Flanagan, inventor of the Parkinson’s self-care app My Moves Matter, it was open to women of all ages, from anywhere in the world.
The app was inspired by Richelle’s personal experience with young-onset Parkinson’s and how her symptoms worsened across her menstrual cycle. The first of its kind, the app and study shone a light on the unique ways Parkinson’s affects women.
Read more about Richelle Flanagan.
Artist Barbara Salsberg Mathews releases What Parkinson’s Feels Like e-book
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2020, Canadian artist Barbara Salsberg Mathews was inspired to use her talents to give a voice to the Parkinson’s community.
In 2024, Barbara asked her social media followers: what does Parkinson’s feel like for you? She then transformed their words into evocative illustrations for an e-book called What Parkinson’s Feels Like.
The motive behind the e-book, released in November 2024, was to raise awareness and empathy about Parkinson’s. She says: “Reading these descriptions reminded me that I’m not alone with these symptoms. I could never have created this booklet without the descriptions of all those who shared their lived experiences with Parkinson’s.”
You can download the book for free here in either English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Ukrainian or Russian, where you’ll also have the option to donate to one of three Parkinson’s charities, including Parkinson’s Europe.
Read more about Barbara Salsberg Mathews.
Birdie Belgium – a song for my mother
Marking World Parkinson’s Day 2025, Belgium singer-songwriter Birdie Belgium released a moving song inspired by her mother’s 14-year battle with Parkinson’s.
Entitled “It’s Hard to See”, the song is a heartfelt tribute and something Birdie hopes “will bring awareness, make people feel understood, and open up a safe space to talk to one another. Half of the proceeds will go to the research into the health benefits of art, focused on people with Parkinson’s.”
“It’s Hard to See” by Birdie Belgium is available on all good music platforms. A CD is also available to buy.
Read more about Birdie Belgium.
