Clwyd West MS Darren Millar attended the Motor Neurone Disease Association drop-in event in Tŷ Hywel, Cardiff, yesterday to mark Global MND Awareness Day.

Motor neurone disease (MND) is a fatal, rapidly progressing neurological condition affecting more than 5,000 adults in the UK at any one time.

The disease causes messages from nerves (motor neurones) in the brain and spinal cord that control movement to gradually stop reaching the muscles, leading them to weaken, stiffen and waste. The result is that people become locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe.

MND kills a third of people within a year and more than half within two years of diagnosis. It affects people from all backgrounds and a person’s lifetime risk of developing MND around 1 in 300. Today six people will be diagnosed and six will die from MND. There is no cure.

Commenting after yesterday's event, Darren said: 

"Global MND Awareness Day  aims to highlight the broad range of issues which affect people living with and affected by MND. 

"At the event we met with three of MND Association lovely Volunteers – Kate, Judith and Julie – who shared their personal stories about MND. They spoke about how they have been impacted by MND, why they got involved with the Association and what they have been getting up to over the years. From marathons and sky dives, to championing the charter, to speaking in Westminster at an APPG meeting, they have done a lot!

"I was pleased to attend this event and I commend the MND Association for the fantastic work they do funding research, improving access to care and campaigning for people living with or affected by MND in England, Wales and Northern Ireland."