In January 2025, lives were torn apart and our hearts were broken in two. David, my husband, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. We, as a family, crumbled and were all left devastated, shocked and realised our lives would never be the same again. We are now over a year on, and we take each day and focus on what we can still do as a family, rather than what we can’t. David’s progression has left him unable to do many things now, but he is determined to make the best of everyday. Those who know David will know how much he loves Scotland and spends as much time as he can up there. Unfortunately, MND has taken away his ability to do a lot of things that he did there. Sadly, fishing was one of them. He always went on cycling holidays and spent days cycling around his favourite parts of Perthshire. David and his friend, Darren, have had many happy holidays up there cycling. In May this year, Darren has decided to cycle from Dunkeld, which is a very special place to us all as a family, back home to Hylton Castle. It is a journey of around 220 miles. We have decided to raise money and put it to research of MND. We as a family would never want anyone to go through what we have as a family and still are.

We need to put as much funding into finding a cure because, for the minute, all we have is faith, hope and prayers. We are hoping David can join Darren on parts of the journey home - a route that has always been close to David’s heart. The event will be May 17th 2026, starting in Dunkeld, down to Musselburgh, Day 2 down to Belford then Day 3 the home straight, down to Hylton Castle where David grew up.

David is an inspiration to anyone fighting a terminal illness. His strength and resilience are what make us all so proud of him.

After the diagnosis, a friend said to David, “to be lucky”. David considers himself to be that as he is living as positively as he can and concentrates on what he is still able to achieve.