MS turns dad’s sunshine dream into a nightmare
EIGHT years ago, Paul Morrison was a healthy builder, getting ready for a dream move to Spain with his wife and three young children.
The family moved from Rochdale to Almeria in Andalucia, to enjoy a new life on the Mediterranean coast. Paul continued working as a builder in Spain, while his wife Claire was a full-time mum to their kids.
Paul was ‘always doing something on the house’ and loved gardening. The strong 6ft builder was never off his feet and worked six days a week.
But in April last year, the family’s dream life took a huge knock when Paul was diagnosed with neurological condition multiple sclerosis.
He had started to experience pain in parts of his body, and would complain of things like being unable to feel his toes.
The 45-year-old, who grew up in Norden, went from being a happy, active breadwinner, to a man who can barely walk with crutches, struggles with memory loss, and has blurry vision in one eye.
He has been unable to work since the diagnosis, due to his rapidly deteriorating health.
His wife Claire, went from looking after their children Charlotte, 18, Ben, 16 and Alvaro, 7, to working flat out teaching English to keep the family afloat in an outhouse Paul built in their garden.
Recalling the moment he was diagnosed, Claire said: “It was awful. It’s just been a rollercoaster since that moment. It’s like he’s a different person, a different man, different dad. It’s just heartbreaking to watch someone that you love go through this. He puts on a brave face – he’s a very proud man.”
Paul’s dad Phil said: “All the family knew something was wrong. We just didn’t know how serious it was. It’s so difficult, it’s frustrating. You wouldn’t think he was the same person.”
He is in so much pain now that sometimes he stays in bed for four days, his dad said. Recently he struggled even to take his little boy to the park. Doctors told him the next step is a wheelchair.
His one chance of getting better is to get stem cell treatment in Russia, which can help stop the disease and improve symptoms. The intense chemotherapy treatment, known as haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), would come at a cost of £40,000.
It works by wiping out and regrowing the immune system, and would give Paul a fighting chance to be a normal dad again. The treatment is designed for people like Paul, who have relapsing remitting MS, meaning they have a chance for the immune system to have a reboot. But it isn’t available on the NHS.
“This is his only chance”, Claire said. “If you can hit it early it can make such a difference.”
Paul is booked in for an appointment in August in Russia, and the family are urgently fundraising to pay for the treatment.
To donate to the family’s fundraiser, visit https://www.gofundme. com/paulsfighttowalk.