Loretto’s courage

BRAVE Loretto Dempsey is dying from Motor Neurone Disease (MND) but she’s decided to share her story about living with a terminal disease to generate support for others with the degenerative condition.

Loretto is just 50-years-old and in March last year was diagnosed with MND. She used to be a baker for over 10 years at SuperValu in Blanchardstown and would spend all day in the kitchen, lifting bags of flour and making treats to feed an army.

Now she can’t move the fingers on her left hand, needs somebody to chop up her dinner and feed her and is confined to a wheelchair. However, despite her heartbreaking situation she’s trying to create awareness about the condition and is encouraging people to join the Drink Tea campaign on June 21, which is Global MND Awareness Day.

“Just because I can’t physically do things doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy what I can do,

? she said.

“You can’t say

‘actually I don’t want MND. I want to give it back, thanks, I kept the receipt’.

“I am the same person I always was, I just know that I will be dead in a couple of years. Everyone has to die of something and if I had a heart attack I would be gone already.

“Sometimes I think it is unfair that as well as dying young you have to waste away slowly.

?

The Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA) is launching a national awareness campaign in the run up to MND Global Awareness Day.

Loretto, from Whitehall, has courageously agreed to get involved with the campaign and will feature in an infomercial due to be broadcast this week on national radio stations.

The advert conveys the emotional and physical reality of receiving a diagnosis of MND and tells the real life story of Loretto and her own personal experience.

“It all started when I couldn’t move the fingers on my left hand,

? she says.

“I let it go for a couple of months thinking it was a trapped nerve. I found I couldn’t lift heavy objects; things that I could usually lift became a problem, even a shopping bag.

“I kept dropping things. Going up stairs became very difficult for me. I thought that it was just because I was reaching middle-age.

?

Loretto went to her GP who referred her to a neurologist in the Mater Hospital where she was diagnosed with MND.

“The week before I was diagnosed I was in London for a weekend,

? she recalls.

“I walked around London, up and down the stairs of the Tube, but within a couple of months walking long distances and climbing stairs were completely out of the question.

“Mentally I’m quite relaxed about my diagnosis, I always was. When I was waiting on my appointment I wondered if it could be something serious so I Googled the symptoms and it kept coming back to MND.

“So you think

‘maybe I have it’ but you don’t think that you do have it until it is confirmed. After the diagnosis was confirmed my family were devastated.

“We’ve always been a very close family that has talked a lot about everything so it helped to know I was not alone and I had the best support I could wish for.

?

Loretto is also getting support from IMNDA, and the organisation is extremely grateful that she in turn has made the difficult decision to support the upcoming campaign that will allow the charity to help other sufferers.

“The IMNDA is really good about giving you tools, advice and equipment to help you cope with the disease,

? Loretto says.

“Electric wheelchairs, hoists, eye gaze for the computer and even an arm attached to the table so you can feed yourself rather than having somebody feed you, these all help to improve your quality of life and to keep you as independent as possible for as long as possible.

?

To join Loretto’s fight, Northsiders can organise a Drink Tea for MND event throughout the month of June. To get a free SuperValu tea pack, you can email [email protected] or Freefone 1800-403403.

To make an instant

?¬2 donation to IMNDA text MND to 50300.