Family in bid to raise cure funds
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 Bedlinog-born 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 bed-bound 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 justgiving 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 participate in the fundraising effort. Vale United Football Club, has already raised more than £500 toward the campaign with Dan Hanson running the 10km in a time of 41min 35sec.
“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.
“In addition, Bridgend RFC have also opened ‘Sam’s Bar’ pitchside at the Brewery Field in tribute to Dad and numerous sporting stars have pledged memorabilia to a forthcoming charity auction.”
As a player, 6ft 4in, 15st 6lb forward Gareth, who could operate across the back row, appeared five times for Wales between 1980 and 1982.
He made his debut against Graham Mourie’s All Blacks and went head to head with the brilliant No 8 Murray Mexted.
He also figured for the 1980 Lions after joining them as a replacement and was on the field for one of the all-time great tries, started by Swansea’s David Richards and scored against a South African invitation team when the ball went through 30 pairs of hands before Mike Slemen touched down.
But the team Gareth will always be synonymous with is Bridgend RFC.
He played in four successive Welsh Cup finals for the club, including the wins over Pontypridd in 1979 and Swansea in 1980, scoring a try in the first of those showpieces and walking off with the player-of-the-game award in the second.