Rugby legend’s family hope fundraisers will help others
THE family of former Wales forward Gareth Williams have come up with an inspired way to raise money for the fight to find a cure for the rare nervous disorder which caused his death three months ago.
The popular Bedlinogborn Lions back-rower was capped five times by Wales and was one of Bridgend Ravens’ most revered players. He was 63 when he died and had been bedbound for more than a year, fighting a rare nervous system disorder for which there was no cure. Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) causes nerve cells in the brain to deteriorate over time. It triggers problems with balance, movement and the autonomic nervous system.
Gareth’s son Mark Williams said: “As a family, we’re looking to further cement his legacy by raising as much money as we can to hopefully find a cure and prevent any other families from going through what we and Dad did.
“There’s lots planned for the coming months, but the first is a ‘virtual 10k’ with participants encouraged to run, walk or crawl 10k either in one go or cumulatively in memory of Dad, with a medal (based on his Grogg) to all participants at an entry of £15 per person, which will cover the medal and postage, with £10 per entry going to the MSA Trust. We’ve set up a Twitter account (@sam571msa), a Just Giving page (www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sam571-MSA), a Facebook account (Sam571) or email sam571msa@outlook.com.”
Sam was the nickname of Gareth, who was Lions No 571. The family hope sporting clubs in Wales and beyond will participate in the fundraising effort. Vale United Football Club has already raised more than £500 for the campaign, with Dan Hanson running the 10km in 41 minutes, 35 seconds.
“The closing date for sign-ups is August 31 but the actual distance doesn’t need to be completed until November 6, which coincides with Dad’s birthday, and participants can tackle the 10km anywhere, either in one attempt or in a culmulative effort,” said Mark.