Retired teacher has lived with ‘curse of the Maccrimmons’ for 40 years
Retired teacher Andrew Tod from Edinburgh has lived with Dupuytren’s disease for the past 40 years and has undergone two operations on each hand.
He said: “Anything that publicises this condition is going down the right lines.
“I developed it without knowing what it was.
“I just assumed like a pain in the ankle or something that it would just disappear and then it gradually got a little bit worse and a little bit worse in both hands.
“So, that when I was working they would give me the nickname of ‘the claw’.
“Basically it got worse and I did nothing about it – then I had two operations on one hand and two on the other.
“To be honest it was really too late by that point.
“I remember one of the surgeons asking me if I’d ever heard of something called the bell curve?
“It said my hands were off the radar for this measurement – so in other words I had neglected them all these years.
“They’re no better now but they’re no worse.
“I’ve got one finger on the left hand that works OK and one that’s fine on the right, so typing is not a problem – I only use two fingers anyway. I can type and I can brush my teeth and perform the health measures.
“My father had muscular dystrophy and I learnt from him that if you have a disability you have to adapt, it may take longer for you to do things but you just adapt.
“I’ve had no pain of any kind with it at all – all I’ve had is inconvenience.
“I’m delighted they’ve found drugs that could be effective and if someone gets the symptoms in their 30s and that means they can then be prepared for life as a professional pianist then splendid.”
The condition is also known as the “curse of the Maccrimmons” who were the 16th century pipers for the chieftains of Clan Macleod on the Isle of Skye.
Folklore has it a curse was put on them for revealing piping secrets and it was foretold they would cease to be the official pipers to the Macleods and would leave the Isle of Skye forever.
So, it came to pass. The fingers of the Maccrimmon men bent so far into their palms they became unable to play the bagpipes any more. Any piper who suffers from Dupuytren’s Contracture as it is also known will tell you he has been affected by the “curse of the Maccrimmons”.