Brave young Irish man wants us to support latest MND campaign
A young Dublin man who has MND is backing the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association’s latest Voice for MND Campaign.
Sports-fan Padge Kelly, 28, from Lucan, was diagnosed with the disease when he was just 17.
The illness, which attacks the brain and spinal cord, eventually confined him to a wheelchair. It also tragically took away his voice and Padge predicts that soon he will only be able to talk through a computer.
“I went from a limp to needing a crutch to a wheelchair to a wheelchair that has to be reclined,” he told the Irish Sun.
“I can’t move my arms or hands. The worst of all is that my tongue, mouth and diaphragm have also been affected which robbed me of my speech.
“I could deal with being disabled but not being able to communicate with family and friends was difficult to come to terms with.”
However, Brave Padge hasn’t lost his fighting spirit, or his love of sports. He intends to represent Ireland in the 2020 Paralympic in Tokyo playing Boccia, a sport not unlike bowls.
And in the meantime he’s supporting the Voice for MND’s Sponsored Silence 2016.
80-95% of people living with MND will experience some loss of speech before they die. The Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association’s campaign is asking us to think about how we would feel if we couldn’t speak.
To get involved you can get in touch with the organisation for a Silence Sponsor fundraiser pack here or test MND to 50300 to donate €2. Funds raised will go towards communication equipment for sufferers who have lost their speech.
We are in awe of inspiring people like Padge, who despite the unthinkable hardship they're going through never give up on their determination to help others.