Paul Harding: Help me make a difference in the battle to combat this true illness

‘Let’s look after each other and make this word a better place’. These are the words of Kevin Sinfield whom we saw carrying his rugby player friend Rob Burrow over the finishing line at the Leeds Marathon last year. He is a true hero who has selflessly raised millions for Motor Neurone Disease Association in response to Rob’s devastating diagnosis in late 2019.

(MND sufferer Rob Burrow carried by his fellow rugby friend Kevin Sinfield over the line at the Leeds Marathon last year)

Motor neurone disease (MND) is a condition where the messages from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles. It causes muscle weakness and wastage that becomes worse over time. Moving around, swallowing and breathing are increasingly difficult, and treatments, like a feeding tube or breathing air through a mask, become a daily reality as the
disease progresses. There's no cure for MND at present, but there are treatments to help reduce the impact it has on a person's daily life.

Some people live with the condition for many years. Amongst those we have lost are the genius scientist Stephen Hawking and the Scottish sporting legend Doddie Weir. Clearly there is so much to be done in terms of research and support, but funds are needed to make change happen.

I have an ex RAF pal who is living with this horrendous condition, so naturally I signed-up to the MNDA Challenge – which was to walk a minimum of 15000 steps a day throughout January. This has been a real eye-opening time for me – meeting people who have lost loved ones and hearing about the effects on families…moreover, encountering the generosity of some individuals I meet. I include here a former school cleaner who wanted to give me the entire contents of her purse (which I categorically refused!). However, I saw that the next evening she had sponsored me on line for twice the amount in her purse! It is so humbling to think that often it is those with less who give more.

I remember a fund raising challenge I created some years ago to help purchase a motorised wheelchair for a lovely young lad with multi-complex medical conditions. There were no social media platforms at that time, so securing sponsorship involved a great deal of footwork and advertising. I recall one day when I visited one of the areas on the station where I was serving. My brief talk was well honed by now and most would either give money directly or fill out a pledge form which would be collected once I completed the task.

In this particular place of work there was one junior officer who made a point of letting everyone know that she disagreed with, 'these types of charity sponsorships’ as she believed the more this happened the less the NHS would do to help. Thankfully this did not dampen the generous response from the others present. The great irony of this was that several years later she herself had a child with disabilities and I often reflect upon her response and how much that may have changed when she herself may have needed help from the kindness of strangers.

Diseases such as MND do not discriminate; Smoker/non-smoker, fit/unfit, drinker/tea-totaler, good/bad diet… MND could affect anyone and that is why research and support for individuals and their families is so very vital. There is so much work to do in order to find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease and the funds raised through challenges - like the 15000 steps a day in January - will truly help this cause. It’s never too late to support this worthwhile charity, which you can do by contacting me through the Torbay Hospital Radio Facebook page or the MNDA directly at mndassociation.org/get-involved/donations.

‘Let’s look after each other and make this word a better place’