Photos from Iceland

10/2011, Akureyri, Iceland • After spending a year in wheelchair, Haukur Dur has responded positively to treatment with Tysabri. He’s back on the golf course, but understands the need to balance his limitations against his goals. “This year, I know that I can walk nine holes and then I need to use a cart to finish the game; otherwise, I’ll get too tired. But I also set new goals for myself all the time. Two years ago, I could only walk three holes. Next year, I’ll try for 10 or 12.” Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Akureyri, Iceland • Haukur Dur has three children from his first marriage; all have seen him suffer a severe attack that left him in a wheelchair but they also witnessed his recovery to an active life. Now dating again, he acknowledges the challenge of finding the right time to tell a new girlfriend that he has a chronic, potentially debilitating condition that is largely invisible for the time being. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Akureyri, Iceland • In 2008, a severe attack all but paralysed Haukur Dur’s legs, leaving him no choice but to use a wheelchair. It was a difficult period for an active man with a wife and three young kids. For now, a switch to Tysabri seems to have reversed the course of his MS. Haukur recalls being told the drug carried risks, but doesn’t remember exactly what the risk is – only that given his condition at the time, he felt any risk was worth taking. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Akureyri, Iceland • Haukur Dur is a salesman by profession – and speaks easily with almost anyone. He makes himself available to people who are newly diagnosed and may need to talk to someone who that understands their anxieties. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Guðrún Sigríður Eiríksdóttir (58) has both MS and epilepsy, a combination that requires careful attention to medication and a concerted effort to live a balanced life. Guðrún Sigríður Eiríksdóttir visits the MS Centre several times each week for exercise, physiotherapy and other treatments. Once a month, she books an appointment with the Centre’s beautician. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • After enjoying lunch at Reykjavik’s largest shopping mall, Jón Þórðarson, Helga Káradóttir and Kristján Einar Einarsson (front to back) bundle up for Iceland’s unpredictable weather. All three are unemployed because of MS, but Icelandic disability pension – which aims to meet the country’s average income – assures a reasonably high standard of living. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Every Wednesday, Jón Þórðarson, Helga Káradóttir and Kristján Einar Einarsson (front to back) use their electric scooters to go out for lunch in Reykjavik’s biggest shopping mall. By law, municipalities, builders and facility managers throughout Iceland must ensure that infrastructure design, construction details and day-to-day operations support full accessibility. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Electric scooters provide little protection against foul weather, but more than enough energy to empower Kristján Einar Einarsson, Helga Káradóttir and Jón Þórðarson (right to left). A mentality of independent living pervades Icelandic culture, and underpins investment in facilities and infrastructure. In fact, with secure financial support for physical care of PwMS, MS-félag Íslands (MS Society of Iceland) feels lucky to be able to offer services that focus on psychological, s
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Electric scooters provide little protection against foul weather, but more than enough energy to empower Kristján Einar Einarsson, Helga Káradóttir and Jón Þórðarson (right to left). A mentality of independent living pervades Icelandic culture, and underpins investment in facilities and infrastructure. In fact, with secure financial support for physical care of PwMS, MS-félag Íslands (MS Society of Iceland) feels lucky to be able to offer services that focus on psychological, s
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Previously a freelance photographer who was constantly on the run, Kristján Einar Einarsson has faced a lot of difficult adaptations because of MS. “MS cost me everything,” he says, “My wife, my family, my job, my home. Being able to come to the MS Centre every day is what saves me. Without it, I’d be at home alone, almost 24/7.” Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Despite his advanced disability, the combination of services provided at the MS Centre and regular visits by home nurses allows Lárus H. Jónsson to continue living at home. Yet MS-félag Íslands (MS Society of Iceland) would prefer a more flexible system in which PwMS could, for example, call to request a nurse when they are ready to go to bed, rather than being put to bed at the time a nurse was pre-scheduled to arrive. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Reimbursement of assistive devices in Iceland helps both PwMS and their carers. A special crane ensures that Lárus H. Jónsson can be transported from his wheelchair to the bed without putting physical strain on anyone involved. Despite his advanced disability, the combination of services provided at the MS Centre and regular visits by home nurses allows Lárus to continue living at home. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • As his condition advances and muscles weaken around his lungs and diaphragm, Lárus H. Jónsson has more difficulty breathing. At night, a home nurse attaches him to a device that ensures he keeps breathing through the night and is not awaken by a sense of choking or suffocating. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • An open shower area at the MS-félag Íslands Centre is equipped with chairs, tables, grab bars and adjustable shower heads. For PwMS who live alone but have mobility, balance or fatigue problems, personal hygiene can be a substantial challenge. At the Centre, Kristján Einar Einarsson showers independently, but knows help is there if he needs it. Meanwhile, staff members carry out a full body wash for another patient. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Steinn Ólafsson believes that being a carer is partly about being an enabler. Guðrún Sigríður Eiríksdóttir works out regularly at the MS Centre (MS Setrið) so she can pursue an active lifestyle. When fatigue and loss of balance threatened her golf game, the couple began renting a cart and devised a “duck and grab” manoeuvre that keeps Steinn from taking a hit during the downswing and Guðrún from landing face-down on the fairway. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Lonni Björg Sigurbjörnsdóttir could be the poster girl for the unpredictable nature of MS. She was diagnosed in 2000, at the age of 19. A severe relapse in 2001 put her in a wheelchair for two years. Eventually, she opted for an extreme form of medication that involved bi-weekly hospitalisation for a period of one year. Lonni stopped all therapies in 2004, and has had no subsequent attacks. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • The principle of independent living is embedded in many Icelandic health and social policies, and underpins investment in facilities and infrastructure. In fact, with secure financial support for physical care of PwMS, MS-félag Íslands [MS-Society of Iceland] feels lucky to be able to offer services that focus on psychological, social and overall well-being. Here, PwMS attend a lecture on nutrition. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • MS-félag Íslands Centre offers yoga classes several times each week. Patients and instructors claim that yoga’s unhurried movements, slow stretching and breathing can have positive effects on fatigue, spasticity, range of motion, loss of balance and coordination. It is also effective in balancing moods to relieve anxiety or depression. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • By law, all public institutions in Iceland must designate 1% of parking spaces for disabled persons – even the national prison. Credit: Fernando Moleres
10/2011, Reykjavik, Iceland • Kristján Einar Einarsson and Guðrún Sigríður Eiríksdóttir join others for physiotherapy at the Landspitali swimming pool. MS-félag Íslands offers the sessions twice per week. Credit: Fernando Moleres
Photographer: 
Fernando Moleres

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