The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A step forward in a campaign for more support for people with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) has been taken thanks to efforts by a Spalding woman whose father died from it.
Hannah Harris (35) knew little about MND before her father Mick Smith, of Long Sutton (pictured), was diagnosed, but is now working to support others who face the terminal disease.
Following her contact with Lincolnshire county councillor Angela Newton, the council has agreed to adopt the MND Charter, which aims to raise awareness of the disease and call for the correct care to be available.
Mrs Harris, of Horse Fayre Fields, said: “I think this will make a big difference although there is a lot of work to do. Angela and the council have been great.”
MND is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that can leave people locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe. It kills around a third of people within a year of diagnosis, and more than half within two years. There is no cure.
Around 43 people in Lincolnshire are currently known to have MND, but there is no specialist support in the county and limited resources within teams that do provide care, according to the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA).
It took a number of months for Hannah’s dad to get a diagnosis in early 2015 and he died four months later, aged 64.
She said: “If he had been diagnosed earlier we would have been able to spend more quality time with him instead of spending that time worrying and trying to find out what was wrong.
“Everybody was really lovely but didn’t always have an understanding of the disease and the knowledge of how to do the best for him, which could be quite difficult.
Mum-of-three Mrs Harris, whose middle son Cohen (10) raised £1,000 for the MNDA following his grandad’s diagnosis, is working with the charity as a volunteer to provide practical support to other families and give talks to raise awareness.
