Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘It happened so fast’
Stella raising awareness of disease that killed her dad
IT is the incurable disease that strips a person of their ability to speak and swallow in a matter of months.
Now, the daughter of a Dundee businessman who died from Bulbar-onset Motor Neurone Disease has spoken out in the hope of raising awareness of the debilitating condition.
Stewart Patterson, who ran a city skip hire business, died in August at the age of 67 — just over a year after being diagnosed by doctors.
His daughter, Stella, 34, today told the Tele that the rarer form of the condition is lesser known and progresses very quickly.
She said: “The signs had started around Christmas time but he was diagnosed in July. He was up and down to the hospital getting tests done and then came the dreaded day when we found out that it was Motor Neurone Disease.
“His speech was affected and then, when it progressed, he couldn’t swallow or drink anything.”
Stella said she wants her father’s story to serve as a reminder that people who are diagnosed are “on borrowed time and they need to make the most of it”.
She said: “I thought that he would be here for a few years but it was just so fast. It all came at 100mph and it was totally devastating.
“No one really knows about it and people need to be more aware of what this disease is and what it can do.”
Despite Stewart’s rapid deterioration at the hands of the disease, Stella said that he kept working throughout — until he finally became too weak to continue in the months before his death.
Stella’s ex-husband, Rhys Davidson, dedicated the opening of his new hair salon — Coloured Soul — in the city centre to Stewart’s memory.
The event raised £800 for the neurology department at Ninewells Hospital, which cared for Stewart and supported the family.
The 26-year-old said that Stewart had helped him when his business was in its infancy.
Along with his wife Margaret, 60, Stewart was survived by his four children, Stella, Fiona, 44, Katrina, 38, and 32-year-old Kerr.