My Name'5 DODDIE: The Autobiography

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For Kathy, “That’s their mentality as rugby players. So that helped me accept it, too. I thought: ‘There’s not much point crying. We’ll just get on with it.’” Last week Doddie and Kathy went to the 25th reunion of the Lions tour of South Africa. All the players’ wives and partners were included at the emotional gathering in Stratford-upon-Avon which meant Tom Smith’s widow, Zoe, was also there. Doddie had been close to Smith, the Scottish prop who was such a revelation in South Africa but died from colon cancer in April. “It was so sad Tom wasn’t there,” Kathy says, “but it was lovely to see Zoe. She’s amazing.” Will there be a fourth book? The answer to that is no. Although as James Bond once said, never say never. The rugby star said fighting with the other two helped. “Working together, us being involved in teamwork, understanding the bigger the team the better the result. My good lady has to shower me. She has to give me a shave now and then and do my hair but not in the same sort of way - it could be a Mohican and I couldn’t change it.

Doddie Weir delivers heartbreaking update on his - Ruck Doddie Weir delivers heartbreaking update on his - Ruck

Mum took court picture of witness at son's murder bid trial and posted it online branding him a 'grass'Doddie Weir now sometimes uses Eyegaze software to help him communicate, which helps to give him independence at home. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian It was the simplest insight he could offer into how it feels when you cannot scratch your nose and you cannot feed or wash yourself or go to the toilet without help. Even swallowing and talking become difficult. This frightening paralysis has robbed Weir of so much but his intelligence burns as brightly as ever. Apart from striving to help others less fortunate than him, Doddie tries always to look forward. “It will be our 25th wedding anniversary on 18 July,” he says. “That’s something to celebrate.”

Doddie Weir legacy will be to find a cure for MND - BBC News Doddie Weir legacy will be to find a cure for MND - BBC News

It is different at night when he lies in the dark, unable to move. “I can’t even turn over in bed. It’s like an alarm going off in my toes and I have to tell Kathy to turn me over every two hours.” MND was once not talked about. You can’t say that now. More action – especially in terms of the funding required to research this disease and possible cures – needs to be forthcoming. This book is another piece of the jigsaw so to speak, and hopefully a spotlight on what MND sufferers face and feel. Gavin Hastings (Scotland): “Consistently outstanding for both Scotland and the Lions. Helped me a lot when the game turned professional.” He is determined to keep living so that he can see each of his three sons, aged between 18 and 21, settle down with a steady girlfriend. Hamish, Angus and Ben are good-looking boys but none of them is currently in a relationship.Two weeks earlier, on 4 July, he will turn 52. “I think people on the committee [of his foundation] thought I would be long gone by now,” he jokes. So much of that support has been generated by Doddie as he is now a leading MND campaigner. It is Global MND Awareness Day on Tuesday but is this incurable and terminal disease understood more now? “It is definitely getting better but the government has not given MND the money they promised.” He cannot turn his head in the kitchen on their farm near Galashiels, an hour from Edinburgh, to glance out of the window. But Doddie can feel the warmth of the Scottish sunshine on his skin. “I’ve been thinking how good it is today,” he says, “enjoying the lovely weather when many people with MND don’t have that luxury.” Doddie Weir says: ‘We went to Geneva about a month ago and it was very stressful. I had to be carried on the plane and it’s too difficult now.’ Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian Doddie Weir of Scotland on the charge for Scotland in victory over Wales at Murrayfield in the 1995 Five Nations. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images

Doddie Weir: ‘The government has not given motor neurone Doddie Weir: ‘The government has not given motor neurone

It gives Doddie so much more independence,” Kathy says, “and it means I can go outside and he can send a message saying: ‘Can I have a Guinness?’ So I don’t have to be with him constantly. He can also use it to change the channel on the telly or go online. He likes to know what’s going on at the local farmers’ market with the cattle and sheep auction.” There is a part of the book where a rather heated exchange between myself and Stewart (who also helped write the other two books) is detailed. The point that was being made was that while I was happy with my lot, and was just going to get on with things, others needed something – or someone – to champion their fight, or to give them a bit of a steer in terms of where their life was headed. Once I’d got hold of that idea, then it all fell into place. This isn’t a guide on how to live with MND, more a guide on how to have MND and live. How do you hope the book raises awareness of MND and the need for research with not only the MND community, but the wider public?When we started the foundation it was just a group of friends that got together to raise awareness and some money for research,” Kathy says. “I don’t think anybody had any idea how it was going to become such a big thing. His friends were saying: ‘He’ll have six months and then that will be that because he’ll not be here any more.’ It’ll be six years soon.” We make jokes and laugh a lot. You’ve got to do that Kathy Weir Death might stalk him but Doddie suggests that “every day is a learning day. When I was playing rugby and in business [installing septic tanks] I always thought of it as a game of chess. You make a move forward to stay in front. I try and stay in front of MND every day.” I did my autobiography in 2018 (still available online and in all good book shops) and thought that was me, I’ve done the documentary and the book,I’ll just wear the t-shirt now. Then along came a second book, my A-Z Of Life And How To Live It, which was a bit of fun and I had no intention of writing anything else. What became apparent on this journey, was that in the last three years so much more has happened in my life. Doddie Weir with pet terrier Mavis. The 61-cap Scotland international now needs help from his wife, Kathy, to get on to his mobility scooter. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian And he said: “Anyone out there get involved in sport because you never realise you would need the family. You see the future and think come 60 odd I am going to be fine and that’s what I was doing. Then I woke up one day to find I have got MND so it changes your life. Spend your time dealing with today and worry about tomorrow when it comes.”