It is not uncommon for those diagnosed with MS to keep it a secret, concerned that if their condition were made public it could harm their careers. Fannon points out that most people have a form called relapsing/remitting MS. If they are in a remission period, they can seem unaffected.
"We did a recent survey that showed that over three-quarters of people with MS can think of at least one occasion when somebody has questioned the fact that they had MS because they looked well," he says.
"A lot of people don't understand the symptoms. Others said they could recall at least one occasion when people had mistaken their symptoms for drunkenness. When someone in the public eye can speak out, it can be really beneficial in terms of breaking through that poor understanding."
We've seen before the positive effect that can occur when a celebrity opens up about their health issues, the most recent of which was the reality-television star Jade Goody's cervical cancer.
After Goody, who died in 2009, was diagnosed, screening tests rose by up to 50 per cent, something that was dubbed the "Jade Goody effect". The novelist Terry Pratchett's openness about his Alzheimer's has seen a surge in awareness about the disease, particularly with the programmes he made about living with the disease that were watched by millions. Michael J Fox has been applauded similarly for bringing his Parkinson's to light and setting up his Foundation, which is dedicated to ensuring the development of a cure for the disease.
Like Parkinson's, there is no cure for MS.
"I feel that greater awareness and greater visibility will have an impact on research funding," says Cathy John, a 32-year-old living with MS, "because without the willingness of people to give and lobby for change, the money won't follow. No money means no research and no progress in treatment. I'm sure there are lots of other relatively young people with MS out there but who are not being vocal about having it. I'm appreciative that someone has done that."
- THE INDEPENDENT