Brave Lanarkshire MND campaigner co-signs a letter to the Prime Minister seeking funding of £ 50m

MND activists wrote to the Prime Minister seeking funding for research on motor neuron disease.

Natalie Rushton added her signature to the letter to Boris Johnson. The letter was also signed by hundreds of other people with motor neuron disease.

Tomorrow, rugby union legend Doddy Weir will meet in London to deliver the letter directly to number 10 with others living with MND.

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The letter says: “MND is a death sentence. Each of us loses the ability to walk, use our arms and hands, speak, eat, and eventually breathe.

“Most of us are completely paralyzed and trapped in our bodies. We all die of this disease because there is no cure to help us. One-third of us are within a year. In addition, two-thirds die within two years.

“Research can now find cures and life-saving therapies.

“We are now urgently appealing for action and investment.”

21-year-old Natalie is one of the people who gave her name to the letter.

Natalie, a competitive dancer before her diagnosis, told Lanarkshire Live:

“This is important to me because I am only 21 years old and living with this deadly illness. I hope this study means that I can find a drug that will stop the progression of my symptoms. However, you can also find a cure for this illness: days of discomfort and pain.

“This illness has changed my life in many ways. One of the most psychological changes for me is that I was a dancer, but now I can’t.

“I danced in cheerleaders, pompoms and hip-hop from the age of 7, then danced in musical theaters at the age of 16 and continued to practice ballet, tap, modern, disco and majority while competing at Disneyland Paris.”

The MND patients who signed the letter are part of a United To End MND – a federation campaign involving MND Scotland, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, the MND Association, and neurologists.

Currently, the UK government’s funding for targeted MND research is less than £ 5 million annually, stating that the coalition is not sufficient.

Over the next five years, £ 50 million from the UK Government will fund MND Research’s virtual laboratories and provide the infrastructure needed to accelerate the treatment of MND.

Natalie added: “It is important to find a cure to stop or completely cure this dreaded disease.

“If you have a cure that disappears completely, you can regain your old life and become a normal 21-year-old. On the other hand, if you have a cure that stops your physical deterioration, this will allow me to do it. It’s an unpredictable and deadly illness, so I agree with the current stage and don’t have to worry if it gets worse within a month, six months, a year, or even five years.

“Please help us, Prime Minister! Without this funding, we would not be able to get some kind of cure. We hope that this funding will not kill us before a cure is found. And you can fight this disease. “

Rachel Maitland, Chief Executive Officer of MND Scotland, said: Life expectancy for people with MND is only 18 months after diagnosis.

“Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we can only fund pioneering research in Scotland and throughout the UK. MND is not an incurable disease and is underfunded. Only. Together, we defeat MND, but we can’t do that without the support of the British government. “

For more information on the campaign, please visit www.mndscotland.org.uk/united or tweet support @ MNDScotland @ MNDAssoc and @ MNDoddie5 using # United2EndMND.

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