DOCTORS CAN'T SAY WHY I'M STILL ALIVE




- 19 December 2007



Seventeen years ago, Dennis Smith was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and advised by doctors he had just three years to live.But almost two decades on, the war veteran from Cheltenham continues to defy medical opinion.

In a bid to work out why he is still alive, the 73-year-old has undergone tests at four separate hospitals across the country.

But tests at King's College in London, Royal Buckingham Hospital in Aylesbury, John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and Gloucestershire Royal Hospital have left experts baffled.

In the latest attempt to explain his condition, Mr Smith travelled to Buckinghamshire for private testing.

Tests cost hundreds of pounds but doctors are still unclear about his condition and longevity.

Despite his daily battle with the illness, which has left him paralysed, Mr Smith is keen to raise awareness of the degenerative disease in a bid to find a cure.

He takes his inspiration from scientist Stephen Hawking, who was given two years to live in 1963 but is still alive with the condition.

"My family and I were devastated when I was diagnosed," he said.

"We just broke down in tears.

"My condition has got progressively worse with time.

"I'm completely unable to use my arms and legs and my wife has to do everything for me.

"I lie on the bed all day and if I want to get up, my wife has to help me. It takes the stuffing out of me.

"I feel lucky but frustrated. I want to be alive and I feel blessed that I've been given these extra years with my family.

"There's research going on but no cure so far.

"My neurologist in Gloucester cannot help and consultants in Oxford, London and Aylesbury cannot either. I'm hoping for some help.

"I am confined in bed all day and it's breaking my wife's back lifting me up the stairs all the time.

"We have asked for help but no one seems to be keen. They just carry out tests. I have lost seven inches in height and was tested last week for osteoporosis.

"The latest battle is to get a simple stairlift fitted by social services but even that seems to be impossible." At their home in Joiner Road, his wife Ann added: "I like to think there's hope but we don't know who to believe any more.

"Experts say people with motor neurone disease do not live past 14 months but Dennis has not given up.

"There needs to be more money spent on research of the disease."

Mr Smith was awarded an MBE in 1952 for services to the country after fighting against terrorists in Malaya.

Motor neurone disease is a name given to a group of diseases affecting the brain and spinal cord. Degeneration leads to weakness and wasting of muscles.

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