ToElise:Youareonly I’mfightingformylife
OLYMPIAN’S EX-COACH ON HIS BATTLE WITH MND Former champion Brian manages to retain a positive outlook despite being diagnosed with debilitating terminal illness
time he was diagnosed. But Alison has since moved home, which meant he’s been able to enjoy spending time with her daughter Isla.
Brian said: “I can’t pick her up – that’s heartbreaking. But if my condition had progressed quicker, I wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t have seen her at all, so it’s a blessing.” He tries to remain positive. Brian said: “I just take every day as it comes. The real hard thing nowadays is the frustration.
“I was always very active. I was making speed skates and helmets for our team-mates and everyone all over Britain but now I can’t do that.”
He’s lost the use of both arms and only has two fingers working on his right hand.
He added: “My neck is going, so it’s difficult to hold my head up. It’s getting more difficult to walk.
“I don’t actively go on the ice any more. If I fell over, I wouldn’t get up and I could break something.
“I oversee training and make up programmes and develop coaches.
“I’ve competed for Britain at world championships and been in two Olympic squads.
“I’ve gained an awful lot from the sport – and I wanted to put something back in.”
On average, almost 200 people in Scotland are diagnosed with MND each year.
More than half die within a year and only 6.5 per cent live for more than five years after diagnosis.
Brian has had support from MND Scotland and, together with his family, has been fundraising for the charity.
He said: “I think the only hope at the moment is to find something that stops the disease progressing.
“Early on in my condition, I was advised, ‘Don’t stop making plans, just make different plans.’
“When you see fit and healthy people going around, you ask, ‘Why am I not like that?’
“Then you get on with it, as there’s no alternative.
“It’s the hand you’ve been dealt, so you have to make the most of life.” ● Find out more about the charity’s work at www. mndscotland.org.uk