Coronation Street duo sign letter to editor to highlight MND issues
The MND Association has been working with Coronation Street producers to help spread awareness of MND
A letter to editors across the UK, signed by both Peter Ash and Daniel Brocklebank, highlights the issues of housing adaptations for people with MND.
Peter Ash is playing Paul Foreman who is living with MND, and Billy Mayhew is played by MND Association Ambassador, Daniel Brocklebank.
The episode which aired on Wednesday 24 July shines a light on issues many people with MND face.
Paul was advised by his Occupational Therapist that his stair lift was no longer safe to use, meaning he will become stuck in his flat.
The episode highlights some of the many problems people living with MND can encounter when dealing with their illness. We know that housing adaptations can be hard to get and slow to be installed into people’s homes. If they do get them, their condition can have progressed meaning more adaptations are then needed. Some people have died waiting and this must change now.
Anna Barrow, who has faced her own housing adaptation issues since her MND diagnosis said: “I fell at home while waiting for a stair lift to be fitted. I was confined to the downstairs and had no access to a shower or our bed. We ended up having to pay ourselves to get it fitted in time but that money had come from our savings that we were going to use to adapt other areas of the house. I am not working now and my husband has also had to give up work to look after me. The whole situation is worrying and frustrating.”
Speaking about the issues raised in the episode, Alex Massey, Head of Campaigns, Policy and Public Affairs at the MND Association said: “Timely home adaptations are vital to ensuring that people with MND can live safely, independently and with dignity in their own homes in the time they have left to live.
“Via our Act to Adapt campaign, we have been urging local councils to use their discretionary powers to introduce a fast track process and ensure all people have equal access to adaptations. We are also asking councils to develop accessible housing registers to enable people to find housing that meets their accessibility needs. We will not stop fighting for people with MND.”
MND is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It attacks the nerves that control movement so muscles no longer work. It can leave people locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe. The disease kills six people every day in the UK - almost 2,200 per year – and there is currently no cure.