MND sufferer Doddie Weir has spoken of his frustration at the slow progress being made to find a cure for the debilitating condition.
The 47-year-old former Scotland rugby star said he lives in hope that drugs will eventually be found to combat the condition.
“There is frustration, and that is with the lack of a solution – for the moment,” he said. “But the apparent shortage of news or progress in finding new drugs to suppress the onset or fight the disease is frustrating – something I share with other sufferers.”
Last week Weir, who is now a farmer, launched Doddie Weir’s Discretionary Trust and announced his aim to establish the My Name’s Doddie Foundation.
“I’m not too bad – probably quite well in terms of what the condition can do,” he said. “I have some problems with my hands just now, so it can be quite tricky when doing a tie or some buttons on a shirt.
“But you have to remember I may have had this condition for maybe a couple of years. So I’m getting on not too bad; I can still walk, still talk, still drive the car, so not too bad. And hopefully that’ll be the same for quite a long time.”
The one-time British and Irish Lions forward first had concerns after losing power in his left hand some 18 months ago, but thought he had injured himself while farming. However, other symptoms made him think there could be a wider issue. “I noticed other wee changes,” he said “Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do but I had a look online. When I read that, and saw what the condition meant, I realised I could be in a bit of trouble.”
He sought counselling from the J9 Foundation in South Africa, set up after World Cup winner Joost Van Der Westhuizen, who died in February, was diagnosed with MND. “I’d met him at Murrayfield a few years back, when he was travelling to raise awareness about motor neurone disease, so his J9 Foundation was one of the first places I sought out information,” said Weir. “There is a lot of detail to be had on the matter. Unfortunately, less so a solution.”
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