Motor neurone disease is a progressive illness that damages the cells carrying messages from the brain to the muscles. As muscles weaken, it becomes harder to walk, talk, eat and breathe. There is no cure — but research is making progress, and science is beginning to understand the genetic and environmental factors behind it.
Tiger, a parish councillor who lives in Ford, six miles upstream of Bath, divides his time between local projects, family and farm work. While a student at Oxford he swam in the Thames every week, and rivers have stayed a source of connection and grounding ever since — this summer he completed a 20-mile solstice pilgrimage along the Avon into Bath. "It feels right to follow this river for something that matters so much."
The My Name'5 Doddie Foundation was set up by Scotland rugby international Doddie Weir after his own MND diagnosis. Doddie died in 2022, aged 52. The foundation has since committed more than £24 million to research.
