Former England rugby captain Lewis Moody has admitted he faces a "daily battle" in living with motor neurone disease (MND), as he issued an update nearly one year on from his diagnosis.
The Leicester Tigers legend was diagnosed with the life-limiting neurological condition in September last year, having noticed weakness in his shoulder while exercising in the gym. He went public with his diagnosis the following month, admitting it was a "huge shock" but vowing to "continue to embrace life" while living with the disease.
What is MND?
MND affects motor nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing muscle weakness, stiffness and paralysis and impacting a person's ability to walk, talk, swallow and breathe as it progresses. While treatment can slow the progress of the disease, there is currently no cure, and it claims the lives of over half of those with the condition within two years of diagnosis.
Rugby league icon Rob Burrow and former Scotland and British & Irish Lions star Doddie Weir are among those to have their lives claimed by the condition in recent years.
Positive update and fundraising
However, Moody has continued to inspire with his resilience in the face of adversity, completing a huge seven-day, 500-mile cycling challenge earlier this summer to raise money for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation (MNDF).
At a charity cricket match held in aid of the MND Association last week, the former England flanker issued another positive update on how he is feeling currently, but admitted it is "hard" to watch his own slow physical decline.
“I’m well," he told The Telegraph. "It’s a weird disease, the specialists tell you you’ll never feel ill. I don’t feel unwell, I’m likely to never feel unwell. It’s hard to watch the slow decline of your physical state. That is a daily battle, mentally.
"But what you see is what you get. I choose not to linger in the sad spaces for too long. There is sadness, of course, but I choose to stay positive, to enjoy the time I have, my wife’s here, my kids are good. Until that changes, we’ll learn and adapt."
Call for more funding and awareness
Moody added: “I don’t need to say it, but I will. Motor neurone disease is a difficult thing to be diagnosed with, but even more so when you find out very little can be done.
"There’s a huge amount of people doing great research, putting a huge amount of time and effort in, but what’s needed is more awareness, more funding. People often say MND isn’t curable, but it isn’t incurable, it’s just underfunded.
"My energy is being placed into this space to try and generate as much financial support and awareness as possible to try and make a difference."
Having been joined at the charity event - which saw Saracens' rugby players take on Somerset Cricket Club - by other people living with MND, Moody became emotional as he spoke of their resilience.
“I met Mark and various other sufferers of MND upstairs today, no matter what stage they’re at they have an unbreakable spirit," he said, his voice starting to quiver. "It’s really nice.
"I said to someone earlier, sport more than anything else prepares you for challenges like this. You’re given loads of different obstacles, nothing that relates to a diagnosis like this, but mentally you’re given the opportunity to overcome obstacles weekly, daily.
"For me, it was just another thing to figure out how to handle... ‘overcome’ is probably the wrong word, but to deal with. I’m doing it in that way, I’ve changed my mindset to what I can do rather than what I can’t do. So long as I stay in that positive space, I remain positive."
