Christina Applegate Spreads Her “FU MS” Message Two Years After Diagnosis Through Cane Collaboration (Exclusive)

Christina Applegate and her daughter Sadie Grace LeNoble at the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on February 26, 2023.Photo:Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

When Christina Applegate walked the red carpet atthe Screen Actor Guild Awardsin February, she sent a strong message to her2021 MS diagnosis: “FU MS" read the letters on her cane.

That symbol of defiance in the face of multiple sclerosis has inspired a new collaboration between the actress, 51, andNeo Walk, the UK walking stick company that custom designed her SAG cane.

The special edition cane (“FU MS” is written on a removable tag; a removable metal collar can be personalized with any message) is now available at neo-walk.com for £120 (about $150), with 5% of the profits going to theMultiple Sclerosis Association of Americaand the UK’sMS Society.

Courtesy Neo Walk

The collaboration, a clear acrylic cane which features a black DNA strand weaving through the center (which “symbolizes the invisible differences people have with chronic illness,” Watterson says), is one of the few projects Applegate has taken on recently.

For more on Christina Applegate’s cane collaboration, pick up the current issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

Courtesy of Christina Applegate/Neo Walk

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After wrapping her Netflix seriesDead to Melate last year, the actress has said she decided tostep away from actingto deal with the effects of her MS, telling theLos Angeles Timesearlier this year that her SAG award appearance was “my last awards show as an actor probably, so it’s kind of a big deal. Right now, I couldn’t imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set; I don’t have that in me at this moment."

Applegate and Dead to Me co-star Linda Cardellini at Applegate’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in November 2022.Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix

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Instead, Applegate, who has beenraw and openabout the struggles she’s endured with the illness, is prioritizing her health, a friend tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “Christina needs to focus on herself right now,” the friend says. “What she chooses to share with the public is very real and in her own time, but her energy and focus right now needs to be on taking care of herself and her family as she learns how to live with MS. MS affects everyone differently so she needs to tune into what works for her and what triggers her flare ups.”

But, the friend adds: “Christina is one of the strongest people I know and also one of the most caring and generous, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that she took time to collaborate and create a design that reflects her attitude and will also benefit others.”

source: people.com