People often ask “What is your why?” This is our why!
Rachel is a lovely lady, who is in her 40’s, was a very fit active, professional business woman with two daughters and a husband. She used to dance regularly, and took part in strictly St Andrews. She was often described as a pocket rocket.
Rachel started to develop a loss in her voice (she taught herself to talk again) and reduction in mobility. She was diagnosed as having functional neurological disorder (FND) however she knew this wasn’t the correct diagnosis, so she pushed for a second opinion. Some time later she was finally diagnosed with Motor Neurones Disease (MND).
MND is a horrid disease, which I can say first hand is debilitating. It robbed my Mum of her Mum at 28, and me of my Grandmother at 2.
MND is an uncommon condition that affects the brain and nerves. It causes weakness that gets worse over time. At present there is no cure for MND, however, there are treatments which can help reduce the impact it has on a person’s life.
Rachel has spent some time in Cynthia Spencer for symptom control. She struggles to walk, has to use aids for mobility including a wheelchair, and was told she would never dance again. To tell a dancer they will never dance again is just heartbreaking.
So I decided to speak to my dance teacher Jayne. Jayne very kindly gifted Rachel a one-to-one private dance lesson.
Jayne adapted everything so Rachel was in hold, and never let her hand go. She did a waltz, ChaCha and tango.
There were huge smiles, tears and a whole host of other emotions. It was priceless experience to have the honour of being able to put in place.
To be able to provide care and make a difference in someone’s world is just priceless.
That is my why.
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