I will be doing a head shave on the 22nd of June in order to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. MNDA are an excellent charity that provide support for MND sufferers in order to help them achieve the highest quality of life possible. They also fund and promote research for a currently incurable, fatal disease. Education health professionals and raising awareness in among the wider public are other parts of their agenda. 

Motor neurone disease is a rapidly progressing, fatal disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It weakens and eventually paralyses muscles, including those used for speech and breathing. A 3rd of patients die within a year of diagnosis. 

The disease is close to my heart because my great aunt, Hannaleh, was diagnosed in 2009, aged just 58. Watching her disease progression was tough, with her ability to walk going first, then her use of her arms and other muscles. She now breathes using a ventilator and a permanent tracheostomy (tube directly into the windpipe), and is unable to speak or move anything other than her eyes. It's heartbreaking to see, as she is so clear in the head, and can hear, see and process everything around her, but can only use her eyes to respond. She has recently written a book, and had to write part of it using an eye scanning computer as she was no longer able to type. The book, ילדת רחוב (Street Girl), has now been published in her native Hebrew.

She is an inspiring woman and I would like to honour her by fundraising for MNDA. Her help came in her home in Israel, but I hope that every MND sufferer receives the kind of support she was privileged to get. I see fundraising for MNDA as the best way to do this.