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Christine Sinclair is Canada’s ambassador to soccer.

The Burnaby, B.C. native has scored 168 goals in international play and captained Canada to back-to-back Olympic bronze medal finishes.

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But now the 34-year-old Olympic star is embarking on a new challenge to help find cure for multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease that has afflicted her mother, Sandi.

Last week, she visited Dollard-des-Ormeaux in her “Burgers to Beat MS” campaign with A&W and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

Sinclair spoke to the Montreal Gazette about the scourge of MS and how she has tried be a positive role model for young athletes in this country

Q: How did you become involved in the fight to find a cure for MS?

A: So my mom is one of those Canadians living with MS. She was diagnosed when she was pregnant with my brother. So it was 36 years ago now. Obviously, just as a kid growing with a parent with MS, it’s definitely life changing. Your parents are heroes when you’re growing up. You think they are indestructible. (My mom) was an athletic person. She ran track in high school and played soccer and coached my soccer team. To see that taken away from someone who, even now, is as mentally sharp as ever. It’s a debilitating disease. It just physically takes its toll on an individual. Now she’s in a wheelchair. It’s very difficult to see someone you care so much about go through that.