WHEN it comes to helping to raising public awareness to battling the disease of multiple sclerosis (MS) a triathlete from Milton Combe is happy to go any lengths.

Trishia Deykin, aged 37, is determined not to allow the inflammatory disease, which attacks the brain and spinal cord, to rule her life. Instead, she is hoping her determination as an athlete will help, widen people's perception of the difficulties faced by those unfortunate to suffer from this neurological condition, which, in many cases, leaves a person confined to a wheelchair.

MS is a neurological condition which affects around 100,000 people in the UK.

Trish's record as a triathlete is quite phenomenal because not only does she compete against the debilitating disease but also, on par, against 'able-bodied' triathletes.

She competes at two distances in triathlons —one with a 500-metre swim, 25 kilometre bike ride ending with a 5k run and the other the Olympic distance of a 1.5 km swim in the open sea or a lake, 40k bike ride and a 10km run.

This year Trish won gold at the British Sprint Triathlon Championships and last month silver in the European Sprint held in Turkey; in 2012 she earned silvers in the English standard distance Championships and the 2011 British aquathlon.

Trish was first diagnosed with relapsing/remitting MS in 2005 when working as a crimes scene investigation officer in Brighton, Sussex.

Trish told the Times: 'I knew nothing about MS, the only thing I knew was of people in wheelchairs. I didn't know what caused it, how it affected people, I was completed naive.

'When the doctor said it could be MS I thought "Oh my god. Wheelchair!"

'I walked from the surgery back to the police station and it was the longest 15 minutes in my life.'

It was a difficult period for her at work. Being still a relatively young officer her colleagues could not understand her prognosis, or her symptoms, or how long it would last. The MS itself can feed off stress, so it was a vicious circle.

Through her work Trish has seen some gruesome sights, including murder scenes, and this, with other experiences, has given her a broad outlook of life, so she was determined not to succumb to the disease.

Trish decided that one way to 'fight' was by keeping physically fit and it was in a Brighton gym one day she was spotted by a British triathlon coach who thought she should give the sport a go. Incredibly in the first triathlon race she took part in she won, and Trish never looked back.

Her rise was so swift in the sport she was on the verge of joining the Elite Team GB but her neurologist, concerned that too much physical exercise could exacerbate the MS condition, advised her to give up triathlons.

However, Trish's MS did not improve and withdrawing from competition just made her bored and restless.

So she returned to training, 'got the bug' again for competition and has never looked back.

Trish lives in her home village of Milton Combe with her husband Nick and her 'training partner' Roly, a dog they adopted from an animal rescue centre who accompanies her on her moorland training.

With mum Valerie in the same village, dad Ian in Yelverton and sister Caroline in Horrabridge she has her 'support team' along with MS nurses, neurologist, occupational therapist, and advice from the MS Society and MS Trust - all to whom she is grateful to.

'Milton Combe is my little paradise,' said Trish.

'After a race I need a complete rest and this is my perfect place.

'Training really depends on how I feel.

'Sometimes I go a month not being able to train and it's hard. I find my balance is going or I'm in physical pain but I find if I go and do a gentle swim all that pain usually disappears.

'For anyone with MS I would say if there's something in this world you want to do, just do it! You have to have a positive mindset and not give in to your emotions.

'It took me three years to admit to myself that I had MS and now I really believe its not so bad as I thought it was.

'If you can live with the relapses, which only last for a short time, you can get through it.

'Something like this forces you to think what are the more important things in life.

'I used to get angry but now I won't let my condition bother or control me.'

Looking to the future Trish is now looking to the World Triathlete Championships in London in September.

'I really want a medal in my age group at the next Worlds. I don't care what colour any medal would be fantastic.'

There would not be many betting against Trish achieving her ambition and even her faithful training partner Roly is taking it all in his stride.