Mike Dennis, Andrew Sutherland and Michael Smith, the geeks, from Ready Steady Play, the excellent board game channel on (youtube.com/c/readysteadyplay) are going to tackle the Tough Mudder on the 24th of September. In memory of Mike's and my great friend, David Greaves, who sadly lost his battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in September 2016, after being diagnosed shortly before his 30th birthday in 2015.

You may remember the "The ice bucket challenge", it went viral In the summer of 2014.  It was an MNDA campaign to raise awareness of this disease and at that time, Mike and I had no knowledge of MND, let alone did we know, we'd would lose our valuable and good friend, David Greaves, to MND a few years later.  

Despite such adversity, David showed incredible strength, courage, and maintained his witty sense of humour the whole way through this devastating journey. He was an inspiration to us all, not just physically but intellectually. I remember him to be incredibly generous, especially with his time! He really knew how to instill confidence with his encouragements. Following  his diagnosis, David accomplished many things:

First of all, he married his gorgeous wife, Philippa. Of which I felt privileged to have photographed their incredible, beautiful wedding day, then he wrote and published a children's book to raise funds for the Friends of the Earth (www.homelessbee.starringstorys.co.uk/). In December of that year, Philippa and David climbed Kilimanjaro (raising over £12,000 for MND Association). Followed by travelling around Africa, funding 400 school uniforms to children in Kenya so that they could attend school. They went on safari in Malawi and Zambia and flew over Victoria Falls by helicopter at the end of rainy season.

Before his diagnosis, David was exceptionally fit. In May 2012, he sailed through the run, Tough Mudder raising funds for the charity, Chance to grow. A year before that, David ran 69 miles along Hadrian’s Wall path from Carlisle to Newcastle in just one day. And the year prior to that, he completed the “ultra triathlon” Iron Man Challenge in Wales with relative ease – 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle, and a 26.2-mile run. He also completed several marathons raising money for charity. 

Inspired by David's  stamina, his sense of fun, and love of activity, and in support of research into this horrifying disease, Mike Dennis, Andrew Sutherland and Michael Smith are joining the rest of the ‘2Fingers2MND’ team to raise money for the MND Association.

MND is a degenerative disease that results in the death of motor neurons (the cells which control the voluntary muscular movement of the body). It robs those who suffer from it of the use of their limbs, their voice and eventually their lungs. It drastically reduces life expectancy - 50% of people die within two years of diagnosis.

It is also more common than a lot of people think - a person's lifetime risk of developing MND is up to 1 in 300.

For David, the course of the disease was swift and cruel. Within five months he was unable to use his hands, after nine he couldn't walk. Towards the end of his life, he was unable to talk, eat or breathe without the assistance of a ventilator. David took residence in heaven in September 2016 - a week after his first wedding anniversary and 15 months after his diagnosis. He is missed deeply by all who knew and loved him.

Any donations for funding MND research would be much appreciated! 

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