This illness has debilitated me but it hasn’t taken my spirit...
Fr Tony upbeat after trek as he battles motor neurone disease
Fr Tony Coote with supporters during the 550km trip Consultant neurologist Prof Orla Hardiman followed Fr Tony’s progress and said she wasn’t surprised he lasted the distance against medical odds.
The cleric led a growing army of supporters on his journey from Letterkenny to Ballydehob alonside his brothers Kieran, Pat and David.
David said: “The disease is moving through him very, very quickly, very rapidly. The journey has accelerated it. “I think he knew that was going to be the case. Rest is one of the key things you should do when you have this illness and he hasn’t had any for 28 days.”
Even though he knew he was deteriorating, Fr Tony refused to take a break and even stopped off to say Mass in Knock. He said: “I always believed life is a journey to a destination and that destination is heaven. I’m not going as slowly as I thought to that destination.
“Even with my illness I still treasure what I have. It’s a different kind of life but I treasure it.”
Walking the Walk airs on RTE One on Thursday at 10.15pm. With RTE’S Des Cahill
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