Old Bar Community Preschool recently held an MND Ice Bucket Challenge, raising $597 for MND NSW to support families experiencing MND - thank you for your amazing efforts!
Children attending the preschool got to take a vote on who would brave the chill for a good cause - this saw three staff members and a parent/member of their local NRL club, the Pirates, get dunked during the event!
Three staff at the preschool have sadly lost loved ones to MND, inspiring them to hold the fundraising and awareness event in their honour. They have shared their stories about MND:
A Cause Close to My Heart
10% of MND is 'familial' which means that there is or has been more than one affected person in a family. Unfortunately, my family is a part of that 10%. I lost my dad when I was 16, followed by my aunty and uncles.
I live with the long-lasting effects of MND every day, missing loved ones and not knowing whether another member of my family or myself will eventually be taken by this horrible disease.
Thank you so much for all the support and helping to spread awareness in hopes of finding a cure.
- Teghan
 |
 |
 |
My Nan
The first signs were that my Nan was not able to hold a bowl (as in lawn bowls) in about January/February 2016 and then her voice was affected like there was a frog in her throat.
It then got worse as she tried to use an object to help her with being able to continue to bowl as that was her sport she loved. Nan went to so many different Doctors throughout the year 2016 trying to get answers and thinking that she may have had cancer but to no avail, but at the beginning of November, after going to a Specialist at Forster twice to make sure he was right she was diagnosed with MND.
She didn’t want to go to modified fluids and food and didn’t like she was now restricted in her life. Nan had an amazing life, always active playing lawn bowls, gardening was her passion and loved her bingo every week with her
friends.
My Nan was diagnosed with MND in November 2016 and sadly passed away 3 months later. She was my best friend and had so much love to give.
Thankyou for supporting something that is close to me and my family and hoping to get closer to a cure for the future.
- Nat
 |
Kathie Muir
Taking part in the ice bucket challenge is a tribute to our dear friend Kathie who passed away from this dreadful disease in 2015 at the age of 53.
Kath was a vibrant woman who loved life and lived it to the full. She was the linchpin and ‘social director’ (SD) for our friendship group, a gang of nine women who met in high school and who caught up regularly, with the highlight of our calendar being the annual Girl’s Weekend Away.
Kath’s first symptoms appeared in 2013, not long after her 50th birthday. She started having troubled with her hip, then one leg, then both, and by the end of that year was having so much trouble walking she needed a walking stick. At this stage doctors couldn’t pinpoint the problem, despite numerous scans.
Early in 2014 Kath entered hospital for a series of comprehensive tests and within a few weeks was seeing a genetic specialist. That was when she received the devastating news that she had MND.
Over the following 18 months Kath’s condition rapidly deteriorated, affecting first her legs, then her arms and finally her speech. Kath was able to remain at home with the assistance of home care, and her family and friends, until she sadly needed more medical help and moved into a nursing home.
Kath was so brave and optimistic, never believing that the disease was going to get the better of her. Watching her lose the ability to move and speak, and not being able to do anything to really help made us all feel so helpless. It was truly heartbreaking.
We decided to do the Ice bucket Challenge as a group in 2015 which we did at the nursing home and Kath was rapt. We raised around $6,000 for this important cause which we continue to support in the hope that a cure can be found.
- Rhonda
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
