This is a
picture of the most beautiful and wonderful woman in the World.
It is a
picture of my mum.
It was taken
on the day that she took her first driving lesson with her dad. If you look
closely at the bottom of the frame, you can see the top of “Dinkum’s” head. Dinkum was her pet poodle.
My mum went
on to become a nurse and then a primary school teacher. Through the years she
inspired countless children. She continues to inspire me to this day.
Today my mum
is as intelligent and as sharp witted as she ever was. But around 14 years ago
she was diagnosed with Cerebellar Ataxia Scar 6.
Wikipedia
notes that sufferers display symptoms including “inability to coordinate balance, gait, extremity and eye
movements”. Amongst other things my mum cannot walk unaided and finds it frustrating that her
condition makes it difficult to effectively communicate verbally at times.
Although she – and my family – have adapted to the
condition and invested in tools and equipment to make my mums life as
independent as possible, I know that she remains frustrated and finds the condition
debilitating. My father acts as her carer. My mum is rarely alone.
There are many things that
my mum will never be able to do again on her own such as walking through the
countryside, driving to meet friends for lunch or baking a cake.
My mum used to make the
most wonderful cakes.
As you can imagine, the
condition proves a strain on her and the rest of my family. Both my mum and dad
had great plans for their retirement. Many of their personal and shared dreams
will remain unfulfilled.
To date, research into the
condition - although making great strides
forward – has failed to find either a cure or an effective treatment to counter
or delay the symptoms.
Why am I writing about
this?
25th
September is International Ataxia Awareness Day.
Please see the attached
link:
I never expect people to
donate money. We all have our own preferred charities and limits to how much we
can donate, so I respect everyone’s choices. But a recent UK Government Poll
showed that only 9% of adults know what Ataxia is. Education and awareness are
as key as fund raising.
So, please can I ask you
to spare a few moments and use your social media profiles to highlight the “event”
by reposting the link to Ataxia UK through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,
Pinterest, StumbleUpon… Anything and everything?
…
Right.
My mum will kill me when
she reads this.
Then she will kill me
again because I included the photo.
But after all that it won’t
matter because I will still love her as much as I ever have and ever will.
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