Our father passed away on the 4th January 2011. Having suffered with Motor Neurone Disease for over 10 years.
This page is now in memory of our father, hoping that one day a cure will be found to this terrible disease. In Memory of our dad, James Brian Oates 1st September 1935 to 4th January 2011.We miss you.
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I completed Virgin's 30th London Marathon in 4hr 19mins :). I also ran the Manchester Bupa 10k in 47:25 for MND. I would like to thank everyone who has donated and helped me reached this target. It's been one hell of a journey, both physically and emotionally.
Thank You
Ian May 2010
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
I will be running the London marathon on the 25th April in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND).
This will be my first Marathon and I am aiming to raise over £1,500 for MND and really appreciate your donation.
What is Motor Neurone Disease
MND is a progressive incurable disease in which the nerve cells from your brain that control voluntary muscle movement are destroyed. It leaves people unable to walk, talk or feed themselves.
Few disorders are as devastating as MND. Imagine a healthy and alert mind trapped inside a body that can’t move, but can still think and feel.
The MND association provides support for families with MND and hope to one day find a cure through research for this disease.
My Father and MND
Ten years ago, my father was a fit and healthy carpenter who enjoyed cycling and was looking forward to a healthy retirement.
My dad started with the initial symptoms of MND with falling in the street for no apparent reason and suffering from muscle cramps.
He was initially misdiagnosed, which led to an unnecessary back operation being performed. But he was eventually diagonsed as having MND. This came to all of us initially as a relief as we now knew what he had, though secondly, the realisation that there is no cure for this disease hit us all extremely hard.
Fortunately or unfortunately he has the slower form of MND and over the last 6 years he has slowly deteriorate from using a walking stick, to crunches, to a walking frame and now for the last three years unable to walk at all.
Our reality now is that my dad is dependent on a breathing machine around 18 hours a day and if it wasn’t for this machine we would have lost him over 2 years ago. He relies on two carers, morning and evening to get him dressed and at night get him ready for bed.
My mum does everything else and is a fantastic support to my dad.
About Me
Having never tried running before I took up running 12 months ago at the start of 2009 at the age of 42. I completed my first ½ Marathon in October 2009; at that point I decided to take my new found enthusiasm and run a marathon for charity.
It’s easy to see my motivation in running this marathon as I have seen my father deteriate from a fit and healthy man over the years.
Running the 26 miles will take a lot of effort and training. I started training in November and over the coming 5 months I will be training four times a week covering over 500 miles in total - that’s equivalent to running from Aberdeen to London!
Please dig deep and help the Motor Neurone Disease Association by sponsoring me on my journey and hopefully one day we will find a cure for this devastating disease.
Training so far
Nov '09: 72 miles
Dec '09: 42 miles...well it was Christmas!
Jan '10: 96 miles in total
Feb '10: 89 miles.... A poor start lost 15 miles in the first week due to a cold
Mar '10: 105 miles. Including the Wilmslow ½ Half Marathon 1hr 47mins
Apr '10: 55 miles
This adds up to 459 miles of training, plus the marathon. Just under 500 miles!!
Kind Regards
Ian Oates
Nf6@sky.com
December 2009
