Up for the fight
Gordon with his beloved motorbike Emma (7) and Leo (4). Despite Gordon’s diagnosis, the family have tried to remain positive.
“The hardest part was the initial shock,” Gordon said. “After that I started to think that I can’t do anything about it. All I can do is hope that Carol and the kids are great.
“A few weeks ago we had a doctor in the house to talk about ventilation and when he got up to leave he said ‘this is the happiest house I’ve been in’.
“That one comment meant everything to Carol, because we all know what the end result is going to be, but we love a laugh and we like to put a smile on folk’s faces.
“I was especially chuffed because my youngest daughter was here with Leo at the time. From day one I have said I’m on a journey. I am not on it alone. I’m going to go on living as happy a life as I can.”
Carol said: “We have our bad days, but we’re always setting each other up for a laugh and trying to stay positive – and we get that from everything we get from the whole team at MND Scotland.
“Their commitment is amazing and they have been a great support.”
While they remain positive, the couple admit they cannot believe some of the misconceptions people have about MND and chose to air them during MND week which took place last week.
Carol said: “There are unfortunately a lot of misconceptions about MND. I was surprised by the number of people who thought it was curable.
“So few people have MND that people take a step back and they don’t want to ask.”
Gordon said: “Other times you’ll say MND and people will look at you like they’re going to catch it from you.”
MND is a rapidly progressing terminal illness which stops signals from the brain reaching the muscles.
This may cause someone to lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, drink or breathe unaided.
There is currently no cure or effective treatment for MND and the average life expectancy from diagnosis is just 20 months.