Viking claw curse strikes rocker MP
A FORMER rock star turned MP fears that his keyboard playing days could be drawing to an end after “the Viking’s claw” struck again.
Pete Wishart, 56, was the keyboard player for Celtic rock band Runrig, before he began his career in politics.
But the SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire’s music career was bedeviled by a genetic disease known as Dupuytren’s contracture.
The disease is known as Viking’s Claw because of its Norse genetic origin and affects around two million people in Britain, many in Scotland.
It causes nodules on the hand which then freeze it and force the fingers to turn inwards like a claw.
“I am waiting to have surgery on my left hand where it has flared up this time,” Mr Wishart said. “I think this may be my last go in terms of being able to play the keyboard because it will come back.”
Mr Wishart had skin graft surgery in 2011 on his right hand which allowed him to play again.
“The trouble is that trauma accelerates it,” Mr Wishart said. “I had it seriously early because as a boy a nail went through my hand.
“The last surgery allowed me to use my hand again but I knew the trauma it caused would bring on another episode at some point.”
Mr Wishart, who has also played with Big Country, currently plays in the MPs’ band MP4.
Throughout his time with Runrig he had to have regular surgery to allow him to keep playing.
He said: “When I was younger I healed more quickly and it was easier to fix. It’s a lot slower now so I’m not sure how many more times I can do it.
“I can play one handed at the moment, but it causes problems in my life.
Anne Sjoukje Schurer, who chairs the British Dupuytren’s Society, said that sufferers have been given new hope from research in the US that will identify when the disease is active and when treatment has stopped it.
She said: “This gives hope of a medical treatment to slow or stop progression and thus prevent disfigurement and maintain hand function.”