Doddie Weir may not be with us anymore but we must keep fighting MND

Whether he is helping a sheep that broke her front legs (on the mend now) or herding bullocks on his farm on the currently wind-swept island of Coll as he has been doing this week Rob still fondly thinks on a regular basis about one of the greatest men -not just sportsmen-that Scotland has ever produced.

No-one will ever forget Doddie’s tireless work to raise money for research into motor neurone disease or the effect he had on the Scottish sporting world. Walking out with his boys to present the match ball before the 2017 match against New Zealand and again against the All Blacks in 2022 remain two of the most emotional moments ever at Murrayfield. His second appearance at the home of Scottish rugby was one of his last acts before his tragic death from MND at the age of just 52 in November, 2022 after which a nation mourned.

There were two reasons why I called Rob this week. The first was to pass on my condolences following the tragic death of Euan MacDonald, 50, who passed away from MND and did so much with his family to highlight the disease. He was a friend of Doddie and Rob with the Euan MacDonald Centre in Edinburgh integral for MND research since day one.

The other was to check on how fund raising in Scotland was going. The matter had been brought into sharp focus following an emotional plea from former Scotland second row Jim Hamilton to the Government for more funding into the disease that has hit sportsmen hard. It has already claimed the lives of Weir, rugby league legend Rob Burrow, South African rugby union scrum-half Joost van der Westhauizen and former Holland and Rangers player Fernando Ricksen among many others throughout the world.

Hamilton described MND as ‘stark and scary’ as he and other friends of former Gloucester player Ed Slater, 36, took part in a 35-mile charity ride to raise funds for MND research. Two years ago after first being diagnosed Slater was able to take part in the event, titled Ride Against Time. Twenty-four months on he is wheel-chair bound and could only wave off the riders this week. MND is rapid and a cure is still not on the horizon.

Rob had seen the comments from Jim, backed them to the hilt, and it was great to find out from him that despite the passing of Weir, the figurehead into worldwide MND research, Scotland continues to pull out all the stops to raise funds for the dreadful and deadly disease.

I was concerned that some Scots - and I am among the guilty parties here- had taken their eye off the ball when it came to MND fund raising since the death of Doddie.

I had marched with Rob and hundreds of others to Scotland’s game against Italy in Rome, wore my Doddie Weir bandana and bobble hat in the winter and others much more fitter than me had cycled hundreds of miles to raise funds but recently I have done absolutely nothing.

Thankfully that isn’t the case around Scotland where Doddie’s memory continues to be honoured. For instance Rob was delighted to hear that hundreds of tractors -Doddie loved a good, big tractor- took part in the Sandy Duffus tractor run from Turriff to Inverurie to raise funds for MND. Sandy, a Scottish farmer who was diagnosed with MND earlier this year, drove the tractor called “Doddie the icon” at the front of the procession.

On a personal level Rob is still working hard to raise funds for research into MND to honour his great friend. He has organised a Doddie disco weekend on Coll -‘all Herald readers are welcome to come across’- on September 27/28.

There are also plans for one of his legendary fund raising bike rides during the next Six Nations. The peloton will leave from Dublin, arrive in Scotland off the ferry at Stranraer, then visit as many rugby clubs as possible on their way to Murrayfield ahead of the game against Ireland on Sunday, February 9. Rob hopes to get as many people joining them when they arrive in Scotland as they hope to raise £1m.

As someone who was blessed to know Doddie and be driven by him around his farm in the Borders on his specially adapted golf buggy on a few occasions he would be delighted to know that Scotland continues to raise funds to find a cure for the disease that took his life.

Sadly Rob told me that since Doddie’s death nearly two years ago there has been almost no change in the treatments available for MND sufferers although he hopes diagnosis can be speeded up. Just now there is a diagnosis of exclusion when sufferers are only diagnosed with MND when everything else is ruled out.

The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation -whose patrons include Weir’s wife Kathy, his former Scotland team mates Scott Hastings and John Jeffrey as well as BBC presenter Jill Douglas- have handed over £11m for MND research and they plan to keep the money coming until a cure is found.

The scientists are definitely not sitting on their hands and are still growing MND in Petri dishes and testing it in labs as their research goes on. Things are moving forward in terms of the science but nothing has changed for the end user but at least Scotland is still playing its part in trying to change that.

‘Doddie is still our figurehead and I still think of him a lot,’ Rob told me. ‘He may be a memory now but his memory is still strong in my head and I am sure in the heads of people in Scotland and all over the world. Let’s keep going. People talk of Doddie’s legacy. Let’s try and fulfil his legacy and give hope to those diagnosed with MND.”

Doddie may not be with us anymore but as Rob says, come on Scotland, let’s keep up the fund-raising efforts in his memory.