Tara and Erin Murphy are walking 26.2 miles or 42.195 kilometres along the Thames in January in aid of the MND Association.

Our mum, Mai Murphy, was diagnosed with MND in October 2020 and the MND Association have been there for her and our family at every step of the way, supporting us as much as they can. Mum has a particularly rare variation, so the more we support the Association, the more they can support her and others who have been impacted by this disease.

Motor Neurone Disease affects the nerves known as motor neurones. These nerves are found in the brain and spinal cord and they help tell your muscles what to do. Messages from the motor neurones gradually stop reaching the muscles. This leads the muscles to weaken, stiffen and waste, which can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe. Some people also get changes to their thinking and behaviour, but the disease 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. Although the disease will progress, symptoms can be managed to help achieve the best possible quality of life. MND affects up to 5,000 adults in the UK at any one time. There is a 1 in 300 risk of getting MND across a lifetime. It can affect adults of any age, but is more likely to affect people over 50.

https://www.mndassociation.org/