Schiedam (Netherlands County, Holy Roman Empire of Germania), 14 April 1433. The woman named Lidwina, who was considered healer and holy, died at the age of 53, and her grave quickly became a space of pilgrimage for Catholics. It was officially canonized in 1890 by Pope Leo XIII. Schiedam, the patron of the native city, is also vigilant of skaters and chronically ill for the Catholic Lidwinas and his day is 14 April.

Lidwina was born on 18 April 1380 in a peasant family. At the age of 15, he fell on ice and broke a rib. The accident was never completed and, according to the chroniclers of the time, the paralysis spread throughout the body, the parts of the body were dropped, and often the blood through the mouth, nose and ears. According to the testimonies of the time, he had long fasting, never slept and had the ability to cure other patients.

That's why Catholics associate it with skaters and chronic patients. But for the scientific community, Lidwina has another value. Considering the symptoms described in the texts of the time (paralysis, dental pain, headache, vision problems, relief times…), it seems that they were not a direct consequence of the accident that suffered the skating, but of multiple sclerosis.

The testimonies should be analyzed with caution, in order to confirm the sanctity of Lidwina, as they have a clear tendency to exaggeration, which hinders the work of historians and pathologists. But they consider that the diagnosis is possible and so, at least for the unbelievers, Lidwina’s main “miracle” is to have the oldest description of multiple sclerosis.