Patrick and Sarah first met 22 years ago. Up until recently Patrick age 40, was able to fulfill an active role as a father to his four beautiful children - Bay-lee (23) Finley (10) Freddie (8) and Sonny (3) and more recently grandfather to little Freya (6 months) and work as a scaffolder for SWC Scaffolding. Sarah continues to juggle family life along with her career as a Hairdresser.

A fit and healthy son, husband, father, and more recently grandfather, Patrick was extremely active, and a keen sportsman who loved playing his favourite sports - football and golf. Patrick was really sociable and enjoyed spending time with friends and especially his family.

Earlier this year Patrick and Sarah were given devastating news that would turn their world upside down - FOREVER. After months of tests and procedures being carried out it was confirmed that Patrick had Motor Neurone Disease (MND). The shock of receiving the diagnosis is still hard to digest even now and the rollercoaster of emotions they and the wider family experience on a daily basis is overwhelming - especially for Patrick and Sarah as even the simplest of tasks is proving to be a challenge.

With MND messages from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles. This leads the muscles to weaken, stiffen and waste. MND can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe. Some people also experience changes to their thinking and behaviour. However, MND affects everyone differently. Not all symptoms will affect everyone, or in the same order. Symptoms also progress at varying speeds, which makes the course of the disease difficult to predict. MND is life-shortening and there is no cure. 1 in 300 people are diagnosed in their lifetime. https://www.mndassociation.org/about-mnd/what-is-mnd

The MND Association has proved to be an invaluable organisation that has helped but in terms of funding, as it is such a rare disease monetary support is in short supply. Their family home will need significant alterations in order to help Patrick live his life to the best of his ability and as you can appreciate this will bear a considerable cost. The family also want to be able to spend as much time together as possible, creating lots of precious memories together. Family and friends are helping as much as possible but there is, as we all know, no money tree!

Over the coming months family and friends will be doing fundraisers which will also go into this pot of money, details of which will be shared as and when.

We appreciate this has been an incredibly difficult and anxious time, but please spare a moment to consider how, hopefully, a united effort will help Patrick, Sarah and their family make the times ahead a little less worrisome - THANK YOU!