Tim Lester's Story

Tim Lester sadly died of MND in May 2009. This story was one published in our quarterly newsletter in 2008. It chronicles the personal impact of MND upon Tim's life. He also created a You Tube presentation that illustrates how he adapted to life with MND.

The early effects of Motor Neurone Disease can often be barely perceptible. Many people feel that it’s mad to visit their G.P. Tim Lester from Spey Bay in Aberdeenshire was enjoying a last minute deal in Egypt with his family when he first noticed mild symptoms. He remembered, “I sometimes found that my flip-flops dropped off. At the time I just dismissed it as being a problem with the footwear rather than my foot.”

Soon after returning to work, Tim started to find symptoms could strike at any time. He said, “leg cramps often occurred at work, whilst driving or even in the middle of the night. I just thought I wasn’t getting any younger and I simply needed to get fit”. He finally realised that it was time to see his G.P. and was referred for physiotherapy but it made no difference. Tim caught sight of his notes during a follow up appointment with his doctor, “I had been diagnosed with depression. Little wonder with the way I was feeling.”

In October 2006 following a stressful move to the north of Scotland, things finally came to a head. He felt exhausted and family members said he looked dreadful. So off to the G.P. he went again. Twitches in his arms and deterioration in the muscle of his left leg had begun. Tim said, “private health insurance speeded up the medical process for me. In the space of three weeks, following trips back and forth to specialists, my world fell apart. I had been diagnosed with MND.”

Not being one to sit still, Tim found out about the Association and decided to raise funds for us. He has been travelling the Spey Way Challenge at his own pace, coming home to take breaks and returning back to the route to carry on.  He has raised nearly £10,000 through direct donations and via his fundraising website page at  www.justgiving.com/timsspeywaychallenge

Tim has continued to pursue his passion for travel with trips to Egypt, Jordan, Ireland, Paris and Munich. His mobility difficulties haven’t stopped him enjoying new experiences. Tim relished the freedom of movement by scuba diving for the first time in Egypt. He has also found a re-kindled passion for music through a chance encounter at an Elgin drop-in centre. Tim is now the drummer for ‘The Sheddies’, playing local gigs and performing traditional Scottish music.

Life is tremendously different for Tim but he seems to be the type of person with a ‘half full glass’ attitude, “I once had too many things in the way, trapped behind a steering wheel, driving 35,000 miles a year”, he said. “Don’t try to get a hold of me now on a Wednesday morning because I’ll be sat behind my drum kit at the Moray Resource Centre enjoying myself with the band.”
 

 Tim and Awareness of MND

Tim was always keen to take part in awareness raising stories in local and national press. Some of them are listed below. You may find them interesting:

Updated Wednesday 26 Aug 2009