Elena Salgueira

"Why is this happening to us?" This is the first question Elena Salgueira asked when her husband, Charles, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1997 at the age of 44. Elena's mother wished she could change places with Charles. "He is too young to have MS and he still has his life ahead of him," she said. At the time, Charles was in a managerial position in IT within a large public utility organisation.

Born and educated in Argentina, Elena, a qualified accountant has made her home in south western Sydney with her husband and their teenage son. She loves music and literature but her family always comes first. She spends every weekend during the cricket season watching her son play, while her husband umpires Grade cricket in the Sydney competition. "You could say that I am a cricket widow during summer," she says. Hailing from the land of Maradona, it is no surprise she loves watching her son play soccer during the winter months.

In recent years, Charles achieved his dream of travelling to Antarctica and he can now say that he has stepped foot on all of the world's continents. Each year, the whole family participate in the annual MS Walk and Fun Run and the Sydney to the Gong Bike Ride for MS, helping to raise funds for MS Australia - ACT/ NSW/VIC and awareness about MS.

As an MS Ambassador, Elena aims to raise the profile of people with MS by sharing her life as the partner of someone who has MS. She believes that "Tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift. That is why it is called The Present."