Former Leicester Tigers player Ed Slater reflects on being diagnosed with motor neurone disease
When Gloucester lock Ed Slater started feeling muscle twitches in his arm 11 months ago he did not think a great deal of it until it continued happening 24/7.
"It was month after month, my arm got weaker and weaker, my grip became weaker and I went to Oxford and was diagnosed with MND," Slater said. "Not an answer I wanted but I can't change it. My attitude is to get on with things. There are difficult things in life, not many things harder than that, but you have to face challenges head on.
"When they started talking about the realities of it we swapped roles and my wife went, 'here is what I can do to help', whereas actually that's where I found it really tough and most emotional to be honest," he said. "They're beautiful kids and they handled it really well. They come out with funny one-liners and put a smile on your face. Just to be around them is a great source of comfort."Slater spent time with Eastern Suburbs in Sydney, Australia, and Nottingham, in the English Championship, early in his rugby union career before moving to Leicester in 2010.
Slater now wants to add his own voice to the conversation about MND that Burrow, Weir and Darby have started.
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