By S.D. HUBBARD (National Enquirer)

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO,
Jacque Rigg was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and given no hope of recovery. Today this remarkable athlete travels the U.S. winning golf championships -- and has bounced back totally from the dreaded disease.

THEN: Jacque Rigg in her wheelchair: "I not only thought I was going to die -- I really wanted to!"

Incredibly, she says she healed herself simply by fine-tuning her diet!

At her low point, Jacque could barely walk across the room unaided; going any further required a wheelchair.

But she refused to accept defeat, and after months of trial and error, she found she was sensitive to several foods, and that removing them from her diet lessened her symptoms.

Gradually, she began to get better. Now, at 68, Jacque is in glowing health.

"There were no miracles, no magic potions, no medical breakthroughs.

Others can do what I´ve done," beamed Jacque, author of the book, "Curing the Incurable."

MS is a degenerative disease of the brain, optic (eye) nerves and spinal cord. The cause is unknown, and it often attacks victims in the prime of their life.

"At first I was too busy to pay attention to several puzzling symptoms -- a slight limp and tingling sensations in my fingers and toes, but they began to get worse," she said.

"I was falling down, dropping things, and exhausted all of the time. I was a basket case and getting steadily worse."

In 1985, a neurologist gave her the chilling news: she had multiple sclerosis.

A new treatment made her extremely ill. "I not only thought I was going to die," she said, "I really wanted to."


But fate intervened. "A book on allergies caught my attention," Jacque said. "Even though I didn´t have any allergies -- or didn´t think I did -- many of the allergic reactions described in the book were similar to many of the symptoms I had."

In 1987, she began keeping a food diary, listing everything she ate and any reactions she experienced following a meal. Slowly, she began to discover which foods caused her problems.

The lemon juice she doused on salads, for example, caused a spastic movement in her leg. She also changed her diet to include as many unprocessed, organic foods as possible.


Jacque began feeling better almost immediately. She continued experimenting with foods and keeping her diary. Slowly, over a period of years, her MS symptoms began disappearing.

"It took about nine years before I could say I was really well. The diary is how I know I didn´t just spontaneously go into remission," Jacque said.

"I went off the diet several times to see if it would make a difference. Within two or three days, my limp was noticeably worse.

"Doctors will not agree I reversed the symptoms of MS. They believe it can go into remission for unknown reasons -- but they do not believe it can be reversed and the body repair itself.

"I not only made the disease stop progressing, I also began getting my muscle strength back!"

She started hitting the golf course again -- and quickly got back in the swing of things. "My handicap is 16 now, which is very good for a woman. I can walk 18 holes and I enjoy cross- country skiing."

Now retired in Horseshoe Bay, Tex., she and husband Art travel the country participating in senior golf tournaments.

"When Jacque first joined us, she was a very high handicapper because of her medical problems," said Cynthia Powell, director of Senior Golfers of America. "She´s improved drastically and won numerous tournaments."


Concluded Jacque: "I believe the MS is still lurking in my body, but I´ve become so healthy it doesn´t stand a chance.


"The body has a remarkable ability to heal itself, and I´m proof. Today, the only handicap I have is on the golf course!"


-- S.D. HUBBARD
(National Enquirer)
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FAST FACT!
Some 300,000 Americans suffer from MS.
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