A fundraising appeal is underway for a 44-year-old mother of two from Strokestown who has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
A GoFundMe page has been set up by sisters and friends of Nicola Murphy, who was diagnosed with MND last September.
Nicola is wife of Strokestown Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Murphy. They have two sons, Conor and Oisin.
The GoFundMe page explains that Nicola received the MND diagnosis just four years after she had successfully fought cancer, following chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery.
“She was so looking forward to this new chapter in her life as her two sons started university, she was in remission and finally back in the job that she loved for the past 18 years when she began to lose power in her right arm.
“Concerned that the cancer had returned, she underwent numerous scans and tests only to be told of a new unrelated diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease,” the organisers of the fundraiser explain.
MND is a progressive neurological condition that attacks the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, which means messages gradually stop reaching the muscles which leads to weakness and wasting. MND can affect how you walk, talk, eat, and breathe, and is a progressive disease for which there is no remission.
While MND can present in various ways, the GoFundMe page says that Nicola is currently experiencing weakness in both her arms and legs to the extent that she has no function in some of her limbs and evolving weakness in the remaining areas.
The fundraiser has been established to support Nicola and her family to try and ease some of the financial burden associated with the continuous care she needs, together with practical requirements such as home adaptation and a wheelchair accessible vehicle.
In October, Joe Murphy announced that he would not be seeking re-election next year following his wife’s diagnosis.
