Tag Archives: marathon running

The Australian fighting spirit

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We came away from Pride of Britain “Fundraiser of the Year” Paula Maguire feeling drenched in positivity and I didn’t think we’d find anybody as positive again during the rest of the 26 Miles 4 MND project, but there must be something in the Wakefield water as 15 minutes later we met Ian Pratt.

He’s heavily disabled by motor neurone disease – now having to use a neurological electric wheelchair and he’s lost a lot of his speech. Despite that, he does a good job of coming across as a happy person.

Ian PrattIan waiting to have his “26 Miles” portrait taken

Appropriately enough, as I write this, Australia has recently thrashed England in the Rugby World Cup. Ian was born “down under” and he has that down to earth “make the most of life” Aussie spirit that was in abundance on the rugby field. When we visited, his mum was over here on holiday and the sun shone on us and the Maguires as we set up our kit in his beautiful garden. It was all so pleasant and Ian’s such a nice guy that I had to keep reminding myself of just how ill he is.

Because we’ve been meeting so many positive people, Cristian and I were beginning to worry that 26 Miles 4 MND wouldn’t get across the seriousness of motor neurone disease properly. People with MND tend to show an awful lot of character – which is “awfully” ironic because it might lead to people thinking “oh it’s not so bad after all”. That would be terrible. Here are three sobering facts – 5 people a day die of MND in the UK and in 2012, 1 out of every 232 people who died in England had MND. Many people with MND are trapped within a body that won’t move and are totally reliant on the help of others.

More than one person has remarked to me that motor neurone disease is more cruel than cancer because, unlike most cancers, a diagnosis of motor neurone disease comes with absolutely no hope and still no effective treatment.

021015_172Ian was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of just 42 after undergoing tests on his daughter’s second birthday. For a reality check, compare a picture of him on his wedding day 5 years ago with how he is today.

“I’m sure it’s the only diagnosis that comes with an apology – I’m sorry to tell you, you’ve got motor neurone disease and there’s bugger all I can do to help you.”

On the day we visited, he had spent the morning chasing up repairs to his brand new electric wheelchair and was stuck in an old manual one, unable to do anything for himself. Remarkably he was still smiling despite the fact that, as he told me with his soft Australian accent, he was having a “shit day”.

Whilst we were setting up, the repaired wheelchair arrived. I asked Ian if I could photograph him being moved into it to show just what motor neurone disease does to a person. Within three years he’s basically become a rag doll. He has to be fed and as he said himself, ” I can’t even wipe my own bum”.

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“I’ve always been a half full kind of guy. I know I’m probably going to die from it so I do everything I can to enjoy the time I have with my daughter and my wife.”

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When we visited Ian, his daughter had just lost her first tooth. He’s never going to give up his fight and is hopeful that treatments and a possible cure might be found during his lifetime. As he said –

“I can’t give up because it would piss me off to think that if I give up today, tomorrow they may find a cure.”

021015_301-EditMyself, Ian and his mum

Cristian’s 26 Miles 4 MND portrait of Ian will be published as one of the 26 portraits during 26 days leading up to Cristian’s marathon fundraising run. If you’d like to donate to help find a cure for Ian and other’s like him, click here for our Just Giving page.

(click on any image below to enter a gallery of shots taken during Ian’s photo shoot)

The Blood Moon Legend has it that –

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– “on a Blood Moon night and day you must donate to your favourite charity campaign”…

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…..so go on then -Text ‘mmnd99 £5.00‘ (or whatever you can afford) to 70070  or visit our just giving page

Thank you 🙂

An emotional real life meeting for the couple who met on the internet!

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I met Neicey Mann online and sent her a message one evening asking if we could meet in person so I could photograph her….. Being a well brought up lady, she would normally have refused point-blank and told me where to get off, but the photos were the first of our “26 Miles” pictures – the beginning of Cristian’s and my campaign to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Miles and Neicey

Neicey runs a Facebook support group for people who live with PLS (or primary lateral sclerosis), which is the type of MND I was diagnosed with. You have to live with PLS or be a carer of someone with it to join, so whatever is said there feels private and in the 2 years that I’ve been a part of it, the group’s been a great source of comfort to me and also the cause of a lot of laughter! As you can see when I met Neicey in person the laughs continued.

Neicey is a nickname that was given to “Denise” – Neicey’s real name – by her friends when she was a kid and it stuck. She’s a Brummie through and through and wanted to set up a support group for this “rare” type of MND where people could support each other, ask personal questions and have a laugh as well.

When I was invited into Neicey’s real home, I felt very emotional as it was the first time I’d met somebody else with my type of MND – I recognised she had PLS straight away, and so did Cristian – she was walking and moving in just the same crooked, awkward and stiff way as me!

cdAs Neicey’s symptoms first began to affect her, she was a singer in a band and had a CD released called “Decree Neicey” – shortly after getting divorced. Sadly she’s had to give up singing because of how much MND has weakened her voice. She’s also lost the strength to play the guitar.

She seems to be a pure extrovert (which is probably why she enjoyed performing so much) – I interviewed Neicey whilst Cristian set up his photographic gear and, I’m sure she won’t mind me saying, it was hard for me to get a word in edgeways! We both enjoyed ourselves immensely in the couple of hours that we spent with Neicey and I hope she did too. I feel as though our virtual friendship has become a real world one now!

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Here are some more shots that I took as Cristian was doing his photography thing. I hope you enjoy them.

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When we start publishing Cristian’s “26 Miles” portraits in the 26 days before his marathon fundraising run, there will be a “Personal MND story” accompanying each picture, where you can find out more about the person in the photograph and of how motor neurone disease has altered their life.

Please help us to reach our target of £2,600 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. The MND Association is the only national charity in England, Wales and Northern Ireland focused on MND care, research and campaigning and is the charity “26 Miles” is fundraising for. Please help them to help more people affected by MND by DONATING to our Just Giving page or donate via your mobile phone – Text ‘mmnd99 £5.00‘ (or whatever you can afford) to 70070 

Thank you 🙂

Nick Owen’s just the ticket

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TV personality and supporter of the “26 Miles” Motor Neurone Disease Association campaign Nick Owen will be appearing at the Palace Theatre in Redditch this week – on Thursday September 24 – talking about his experiences interviewing stars from the world of sport, entertainment and news. Tickets are nearly sold out so hurry if you want one!

You can find out more here – Palace Theatre, Box Office

Rumour has it that co-stars from his past may be in the audience (including Suzanne Virdee)! I worked alongside Nick (and Suzanne) a great many times during my 17 year career as a TV cameraman and director.

Here’s what happened as I was reunited with Nick when we visited the BBC studios in Birmingham to take his “26 Miles” portrait recently.

(click on the first image to enter a slide show of all the pictures)
The door to BBC Birmingham’s Midlands Today news studio
Cristian setting up – that’s my mobility scooter in the foreground
Cristian, James and a cardboard cut out of Nick!
James as Nick’s stand-in model
The great man arrives!
Final checks
Nick prepares for his portrait
It was great to be back at the BBC alongside Nick
Laughing at one of his “classic” jokes
Cristian “in the zone” taking our portrait
Cristian still “in the zone” taking our portrait
The view from behind the camera
The view from in front of the camera
All the portraits will be taken in front of this background showing lots of the area around it
A glimpse of what the final portrait might look like
It takes a lot of concentration, this photography thing!

It was so great to meet him again. If you can get to his show on Thursday, you’ll find him as warm and witty in the flesh as he is on TV.

Nick’s portrait will be amongst pictures of a group of celebrities who are supporting the “26 Miles” Motor Neurone Disease Association campaign. These will be published during the final 26 MND portraits in the days leading to Cristian’s marathon.

Please help us to reach our target of £2,600 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. The MND Association is the only national charity in England, Wales and Northern Ireland focused on MND care, research and campaigning and is the charity “26 Miles” is fundraising for. Please help them to help more people affected by MND by DONATING to our Just Giving page or donate via your mobile phone – Text ‘mmnd99 £5.00‘ (or whatever you can afford) to 70070 

Thank you 🙂

Groin strain after a little training session – The Great North Run

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Cristian has been preparing steadily for his 26 mile MND Association fundraising marathon and at the weekend completed the Great North Run in a time of just over 2 hours. He was disappointed with his time as a few years ago ran the 13 miles in under 2 hours, but hey, we all slow down as we get older 😉

Cris Grt Nrth Run

Here he is showing off his medal. I did ask if he fancied doing another 13 miles, but he wasn’t impressed.

Afterwards the crowds were so great that he had to stand around for a long time getting cold which caused a minor groin injury to flare up.

We were worried that it would throw the marathon training schedule out of kilter, but a trip to the physiotherapist has sorted him out and his groin is now apparently working just as it should!