When John Bell was diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease, he and his family pledged to live every day to its fullest. Here, his wife Charlotte and mum Linda explain why they will never give up hope...
“As long as our future stretches as far as tomorrow, I’ll just look to that.”
says Charlotte, 31
As I took John’s hand and started walking down the aisle, I couldn’t stop smiling. There were times I had thought this day would never come and I was so proud of him. John’s feet dragged a little and I could tell he was tired, but as he gripped my hand and grinned at me, I knew I would treasure this moment for ever.
Then, as all our family and friends stood and applauded us for the first time as a married couple, it seemed as if our future was as bright as any other couple’s…
John and I had been together for a couple of years when he proposed to me on holiday in Turkey. He was a semi-professional footballer, but he’d had to take a year off from training because of injury, so it had been a tough time for him.
Back home in Sheffield, John started trying to train again for the upcoming football season, but he found his old fitness regime increasingly difficult to keep up with. He was also concerned about other changes in his body. “My hands have started twitching and I don’t know why,” he confided. By chance, a new GP had joined our practice and asked John to go for a routine medical. When he got home he had some news. “I’ve been referred for tests,” he said.
John wouldn’t want anyone to say “poor you’’ says Linda, 62.
I remember the day the doctor told me my youngest son had MND as if it were yesterday. I somehow knew the news was going to be bad. Call it mother’s intuition. When he told us John’s diagnosis I burst into tears, and when we were told we could lose him within a year, I was speechless. I kept hoping it was a bad dream I’d wake up from, but from the start both John and Charlotte were positive and that made it easier. “Chin up mum,” John said. “We’ve got to keep smiling.”
John had always been fiercely independent and stubborn as a little boy. “I can clean my own football kit, Mum,” he’d say. Now I could see the frustration as he couldn’t understand why his body wasn’t working any more.
The full version of this article appeared in Best magazine on 24 January 2006.