Living with motor neurone disease
People with the condition tell us how it affects their lives
Former England rugby captain Lewis Moody recently revealed he had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), and our conversations give an insight into how lives can be overturned by this muscle wasting condition.
Dr Mehboob in Canada was diagnosed five years ago and is now paralysed from the neck down. He is joined in conversation by his wife, Sophie, and Evy in Belgium, whose dad died last year 46 years after his diagnosis.
“I’m at peace with the very clear knowledge that at any time this disease will take my life,” Mehboob tells us. “I’ll just live day by day appreciating every moment in my life, and that’s how I’ve been able to cope with it.”
MND is incurable. Over time, muscles weaken – affecting movement, speech eating and breathing. People over 50 are most likely to get the disease but there is evidence that elite athletes are also disproportionately affected. We bring together Narayana in India with James and Gillian in the UK, who were all diagnosed in their 30s, to share their experiences of living with the condition.
Presenter: Rahul Tandon
BBC producers: Laura Cress and Iqra Farooq
Boffin Media Producer: Richard Hollingham
An EcoAudio certified Boffin Media production in partnership with the OS team.
Photo/credit: Dr Mehboob and his family
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