Disney executive Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul was honored Friday night at the annual Race to Erase MS Gala and spoke about her extraordinary journey to face multiple sclerosis.
Bulochnikov-Paul heartily spoke of her surprise when she received her diagnosis. As a senior executive at Disney and the mother of three young sons, she was devastated and worried that her life was about to change radically. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects approximately 1 million Americans.
“I decided I wasn’t going to let MS define me. I’ve spent my entire career in communication. I know how to make a story my own, and I was definitely going to make my story my own,” Bulochnikov-Paul told the audience at the Fairmont Century Plaza.
Disney’s Dana Walden, Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul and Debra O’Connell attend the Race to Erase MS Gala on June 5th (Frank Micelotta/Disney)
Bulochnikov-Paul, Disney’s senior vice president of communications, said the support of her colleagues at Disney was key to her perseverance. She credited her boss, Dana Walden, Disney’s president and chief creative officer, for going above and beyond, including attending her doctor’s appointments early on.
“Even though Dana is one of the busiest people in Hollywood, she came to my first appointment with a notebook and pen as if it were the most important meeting of the day,” Bulochnikov-Paul recalled. “After the appointment, she asked me if I wanted to take some time off. I said, ‘No.'” Because what I needed in that moment was normalcy. And what she said next set me on the path that brought me here tonight.
She said, “You never know what’s going to happen with MS.” ”
Race to Erase MS is led by Nancy Davis, a philanthropist who was diagnosed with the disease more than 30 years ago. Davis told Variety that Bulochnikov-Paul’s experience shows how much progress has been made in researching and understanding how to manage the disease, which affects different people in different ways.
In extreme cases, MS can severely limit a person’s mobility. Bulochnikov-Paul recalled telling her husband that she might have to walk with a cane someday, and he replied, “Baby, your family will be your crutch.”
In the 1990s, there was little information or medical research about the disease. Today, Bulochnikov-Paul is a shining example of how this condition can be managed for those fortunate enough to have a strong family and medical support system around them, Davis said.
“It’s an invisible illness to most people. I was told to go home and sleep,” Davis told Variety. “Educating people is so important. Naomi works a very demanding job 24/7 and is also a mother of three children. She just jumped in because she wanted to find a cure.”
Davis’ Race to Erase MS gala has raised more than $57 million for MS research since its inception in 1994. The nonprofit organization has supported research into drugs to help manage the disease and long-term research into potential treatments. Participating in efforts to support MS research and care has been energizing for Bulochnikov-Paul.
“At the end of the day, no one knows what tomorrow will bring. All we can do is choose how we live. We can live in fear or we can live in power,” she said. “I choose the latter every day.”
