AN ARTIST who has been living with Parkinson’s Disease since 2018 and is now penning a booklet to help explain the condition to others.

Chris Worswick, 75, from Bacup works in her custom built Wooden Horse Studio downstairs where she still creates works of art, but now she uses a wheelchair to get between the rooms.

She said: “I have called the booklet ‘Unpredictable Parkinson’s’ because that is what it is like living with it. Everyone who is diagnosed has a different experience.

“For me, the first thing I noticed was that I had problems with my right foot, but because I have had arthritis in it for years, I didn’t think anything of it.

“Then it became more noticeable when I was trying to get up from a chair. When I think about it, there were some signs earlier but I just thought it was arthritis and getting older.”

Chris and husband Paul built their own home over three years finally moving in in 2016.

Two years later she fractured her arm abroad and her mobility started to get worse. Eventually, a brain scan confirmed Parkinson’s.

After her diagnosis, Chris joined a Parkinson's Disease Society which met in Rochdale, as well as a drop in at the Whitaker in Rawtenstall.

She was able to get help with physiotherapy along with private massages and pilates sessions which helped her condition however the pandemic ended all of this.

Chris researched nutrition and Parkinson’s, and now she balances her own diet by adding turmeric and ginger to meals.

She makes lemon and cocoa powder drinks, eats lots of fruit, makes nettle soup and has adopted a Mediterranean style diet.

Chris said: “One of the biggest problems is inflammation and the best way to control it is exercise and diet. I have now cut down on the tablets I am taking.”

She founded a creative writing group in Bacup and hopes that it may be able to meet again in the near future.

Chris added: “I want to be able to get the booklet published so that I can aid understanding of the condition.”