‘There’s nothing the doctors can do’
A CHARITY event is to take place in Barrowupon-Soar to fund vital research after a resident was diagnosed with a rare and terminal brain disorder.
At the start of 2016, Stephen Thomas, 62, of Thirlmere Road, was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy - an uncom- mon disease that affects movement, balance, speech, vision and thinking.
Stephen’s wife of almost 40 years, Maureen Thomas, told the Echo the disease, which is believed to affect 4,000 people in the UK, is “devastating”.
She said: “There’s nothing the doctors can do. We’ve been told he has about five years.”
A CHARITY event is to take place in Barrow-upon-Soar to fund vital research after a resident was diagnosed with a rare and terminal brain disorder
At the start of 2016, Stephen Thomas, 62, of Thirlmere Road, was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy - an uncommon disease that affects movement, balance, speech, vision and thinking.
Stephen’s wife of almost 40 years, Maureen Thomas, told the Echo the disease, which is believed to affect 4,000 people in the UK, is “devastating”.
She said: “He will lose his ability to walk, at the moment he uses crutches and a wheelchair when out.
“He will lose the ability to talk. He struggles sometimes talking now and struggles to think of words and pauses a lot.
“It’s affected his eyesight as well and he gets double vision which he says is the worst part of it for him.
“There’s nothing the doctors can do. We’ve been told he has about five years.”
Maureen has one child with Stephen and children from a previous marriage who call him dad.
She said: “It’s a very big thing to deal with and I think he deals with it better than we do.
“He’s been extremely brave and we take one day at a time.
“All we can do is get what- ever he needs and do whatever we need to do.
“I’m a tough cookie, and it’s a good job because I would just fall to bits. It’s devastating, he’s my life.”
A charity event for the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association (PSPA) is to take place at The Boat House, in Bridge Street, on Saturday, September 9.
There will be activities for children, a raffle, an auction, a tombola and more.
Maureen said: “We’ve decided to help the charity as much as possible to get money for research and I will continue to do this sort of thing.”
Anyone who wishes to donate raffle prizes is asked to email Maureen at mo.thomas50@gmail.com