Silence Speaks
As you are probably now aware, I took part in #silentspeaks to experience the frustration that Motor Neurone Disease sufferers experience and raise funds for MND.
One of the first symptoms many sufferers experience is loss of voice as the muscles 
deteriorate, this leads to issues forming words then total voice loss.
As the disease takes hold, the only area unaffected is the brain, making the sufferer aware of everything and everyone as their body fails.
Watching my father suffer this way, I really can’t explain enough how cruel this terminal disease is, the final part usually consists of total respiratory failure as the disease stops the diaphragm working leading to suffocation, this all took place within 4 weeks of diagnosis in my fathers case.
Having lost my father this way, it left me with two options, one was to grieve and be haunted by this for the rest of my life, the other was to stick to the promise I made to raise awareness and try and help others in this position receive the care and support they need.
I chose the second option.
Just hours into my sponsored silience I felt helpless and emotional, experiencing what so many are going though when they lose their voice.
Experiencing what my father did, made me understand how he felt and many others who suffer from MND.
Although I didn’t raise a vast amount of money (£300), the experience is invaluable to help me understand and come to terms with this vast emptiness I have inside me at the moment.
If I only raised enough to buy one voice aid, then at least Ive helped one person to communicate.
In December I propose asking Council to adopt the Motor Neurone Charter to raise awareness and to help support people suffering from this rare condition.
During 2018 I will be throwing myself into raising funds for MND, so be warned!!
Giles Davies 