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Soccer legend leads fight against Rag Doll disease
By Elaine Sheridan
Former Ireland and Liverpool football legend Ronnie Whelan has faced many
career obstacles over the years but his biggest personal challenge came
when his daughter fell ill with a rare condition.
And like many people the soccer star had no idea what Myasthenia Gravis
(MG) was when it came knocking on his door.
Now in an attempt to raise awareness about the debilitating disease, Ronnie
has been appointed patron of the MG Association (MGA) and is determined
to help.
The 47-year-old Dubliner spoke to The Irish Post about the condition and
how it has affected him and his family.
He said: “I had no idea what Myasthenia Gravis was and no idea that
my eldest daughter Elizabeth had MG when she became ill in 2005.
“It was only when it touched my family that we found out what it
was.
“She was only 18 but she was tired all the time and even falling
over.
“The final straw came when she fell down the stairs in a nightclub
10 minutes after she had arrived there.
“People thought that she was drunk but she just fell with weakness.”
After undergoing a series of tests, Elizabeth was eventually diagnosed
with MG — an autoimmune disease where the immune system causes a
breakdown in signals between the body’s nerves and muscles.
Around 500 Irish people have been diagnosed with the condition which is
known as Rag Doll Disease because it leaves sufferers feeling limp and
floppy.
Often mistaken for ME or Yuppie Flu, many sufferers can be left undiagnosed
or misdiagnosed.
Ronnie said: “At first my wife Elaine and I thought that Elizabeth
was just becoming a lazy teenager because she had put on a bit of weight.
“She was tired all the time but it wasn’t that she was falling
asleep — it was more of a case that she didn’t want to move
or do anything.
“We feel really guilty about that now.”
Not long after the diagnoses Elizabeth, who now works as a medical secretary
at Fazakerley Hospital, had a major operation to remove a gland in her
chest cavity.
The surgery was carried out at a specialist neurological centre in Liverpool
where Ronnie, along with wife Elaine and their other daughters Georgie
and Amy, still live today.
He said: “Elizabeth in now 22 and making progress in her battle
with MG.
“She is still on steroids, and — as yet — there is no
known cure for the disease, so it’s about keeping it contained and
controlled all the time.
“The Myasthenia Gravis Association has been a huge support to my
family during Elizabeth’s illness, so I am really determined now
to raise awareness about MG and help families throughout Britain and Ireland
to find out more about its symptoms and effects.”
Ronnie hosts an annual celebrity golf classic in aid of the MGA which
will takes place this year on May 23 at the K Club in Kildare.
Proceeds go to the MGA and the Marie Keating Foundation for cancer awareness. |
