On 28th September the Club is supporting a collection for the Motor Neurone Disease Support Teams in Bedford and Northampton.
This awful disease has impacted two of our very own long-time Supporters and we as a Club are very keen to support Jim and Karen in any way we can. Jim’s and Karen’s story can be read below and will also appear in the online matchday programme.
On behalf of Jim, Karen and the Club I would like you all to support the day by encouraging other Supporters through the gate, engage with the MND teams who will be shaking their buckets.
In addition the MND teams have opened a joint ‘JustGiving’ page:
https://justgiving.com/page/rushdendiamondsafc-1725306979192
Thank you
Community Lead
Our MND Journey by Jim (Pigman) Playle
Imagine for a minute not being able to speak, eat, drink, walk, dress yourself, have trouble using your hands and fingers on your mobile phone, unable to pick up a pen to write, to be totally dependent upon someone to care for you, to do everything for you, but all while your mind is as sharp as it ever was – welcome to my wife’s world.
Rugby league star Rob Burrow, who played over 500 games for Leeds Rhinos, did an amazing and inspirational job of raising awareness of Motor Neurone Disease, an illness he was diagnosed with in 2019, and sadly succumbed to in June this year. But it is only when it impacts on you personally that the real effect of this awful condition strikes home.
For those that don’t know, MND is a rapidly progressing and life-threatening neurological condition with no cure. It affects people in different ways, but the average life expectancy of a sufferer is between 2-3 years, maybe less. In some cases, it is hereditary, others it is sporadic, as with my Karen. It is reported that 5,000 people a year in the UK area affected – it can affect you or your loved ones just as quickly and unexpectedly as it has us.
Some of you may remember Karen, who back in the old Rushden & Diamonds FC days helped to moderate the rdfcnet Fans Forum under the username PrincessK. Our MND journey started in December 2022 when she started to slur her words and find it difficult to swallow her food. Following lots of tests she was formally diagnosed with MND in August 2023.
Her decline since the diagnosis has seen her lose the ability to speak, eat, walk and her breathing has been adversely affected and she spends much of her time on a ventilator, her feeding and medication done through a PEG tube directly into her tummy. She is cared for 24/7 by me. Pretty much bedridden these days she remains amazing and inspirational with the way in which she copes with this dreadful illness. Her (rather warped) sense of humour hasn’t diminished one bit, even faced with then toughest of challenges every day.
Rob Burrow used his fame to raise awareness and millions of pounds in donations for the MND Association, but Karen’s courage and tenacity every day is just as incredible and every bit as inspirational as his was, she is my hero, she’s amazing!
The local MND Association have given us wonderful support, both emotional and practical. They have helped with support groups, advice and guidance, events, even financial support with grants for essential equipment we’ve needed.
The Football Club Board reached out to me recently and asked me how they could help, and they have kindly granted my request for a collection today to help raise some funds so the work of the local MNDA can continue. Please give generously so others can benefit in the same way as we have!
Thank you, Jim
