Nicola's story

 "I think about him every day" – Nicola shares her experience of being diagnosed with MND.

Nicola was speaking as she helps us to launch Doddie Aid 2024 – a mass participation virtual exercise event that sees thousands of people clock up miles to raise vital cash to fund research MND.

Nicola caught up with Doddie's friend, former teammate, and MND campaigner Kenny Logan, where she discussed living with the disease in a new film premiered today. 

She described how receiving her diagnosis in March this year ‘was like being hit by a train’ just a decade after undergoing a double mastectomy to treat cancer, a disease that also claimed the lives of her parents in their 50s.

However, her thoughts almost immediately turned to Doddie – which she said was a source of ‘incredible strength’ at the most challenging time in her life.

She said: “After my diagnosis I was in a very dark place, but thinking of Doddie helped lift me out of it, after everything he achieved he means so much to the MND community. I thought, ‘Doddie managed to set up a foundation and raise millions for MND research, the least I can do is get out of bed and crack on.’ I think about him every day.”

Nicola first noticed signs of the disease in her fingers when horse riding. She initially put it down to menopause, but when she then noticed twitching elsewhere in her body, she began to suspect something serious was wrong and saw a neurologist. 

She explained: “Like everyone in this situation, I’d Googled the symptoms and had a terrible feeling of what was to come, but nothing can prepare you for being told ‘you have MND’. All the neurologist could say was ‘I’m so sorry, you must be very afraid’ – it was like being hit by a train.

 “I’d already gone through the realisation of my mortality with my cancer, and whilst my cancer treatment was extreme, we caught it early enough and there was something that could be done about it. As things stand, that isn’t the case for MND. It’s a situation that’s very hard to accept, and there is so much uncertainty around how the disease will affect you and how quickly, but as each day passes you will only get worse – that’s why I had to get back to living.”

 And that’s just what Nicola has done. Just months from her diagnosis, the environmental consultant, who manages projects across Scotland for Edinburgh-based Mott MacDonald, still works full time, keeps up running where possible, is continuing her riding, and has even taken on the renovation of a new home with partner Paul – who has been ‘her rock’..

 She said: “Something I say a lot is that I’m still me. My exercise, my riding, and my job are so much about who I am, and Mott MacDonald has been incredibly supportive, and I want to keep going for as long as possible. I need the money too – nobody gives you a big cheque when you get an MND diagnosis.

 “I know that with every day that passes my condition will get worse. When I was diagnosed all I could do was say ‘sorry’ to Paul, and even though I said I’d understand if he wanted to go another way, he’s been my rock.

 “We are travelling, we’re working on the house, we are making plans because that’s what we want to do. Something I learned from Doddie is to focus on what I can do, rather than what I can’t. I have good days and bad ones, but I never allow myself to have two bad days in a row.

 “At present there is no cure or treatment for MND, but they are making breakthroughs and so much of that is down to Doddie and the work of his foundation. It’s not even possible to tell how MND will progress, and I don’t know how long I have. Occasionally Paul and I allow ourselves to think they may find a way to slow the disease in my lifetime – that provides some hope. What I am certain of is there is a lot more hope now than there was before Doddie.”

Doddie Aid – founded by Doddie's former teammate and Scotland captain Rob Wainwright – has so far raised more than £4 million for MND research with more than 80,000 participants covering four million miles.

Be part of the cure and sign up today.