Jarrod Cunningham - Once A Wasp - MND Awareness

Friday 21 June 2013 was Global Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Awareness Day. It saw the realisation of Neil Platt's campaign to increase understanding of this awful disease with the general distribution of a documentary, I am breathing.

Wasps supporters may remember the London Irish rugby player, Jarrod Cunningham, who was similarly afflicted. He, too, was remarkably positive in his outlook and a tireless campaigner until his final hours.

Jarrod was a running fullback from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. His rugby playing career bridged the amateur and professional eras from 1990 to 2002. He joined London Irish in 1997 and played 82 times in the Premiership, scoring 848 points.

He joined London Wasps in the summer of 2002 on a two year contract but after just two days of pre-season training he was referred to Charing Cross Hospital and later diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Jarrod spent much of the next five years raising funds and awareness both in the UK and in his native country, where he died on 22 July, 2007. Although Jarrod didn't play for London Wasps, he did turn out fleetingly for Wasps FC (amateurs) just after having landed in the UK in 1997.

(Among many of Jarrod's legacies, see:
http://www.jctrust.co.nz/
http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/news/david-yates-personal-account-of-motor-neurone-dise/1028023/
http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/jarrod-set-me-on-a-path-and-look-where-i-am-now)

Neil Platt wasn't a rugby player by profession, he was an architect. He was also diagnosed with MND in his thirties. His was a familial form of MND, rather than the sporadic kind. It had taken his father and grandfather before him. The diagnosis came shortly after the birth of his son.

A combination of frustration and a desire to raise awareness led first to Plattitudes (a blog of a hundred postings), then to a media campaign and finally, a documentary: I Am Breathing (http://www.iambreathingfilm.com/).

MND is a rare disease with just 5,000 sufferers in the UK at any one time. Neil's Consultant Neurologist, Professor Chris Shaw, is another Kiwi who works relentlessly along with his research team in pursuit of a cure for this degenerative disease.

Please donate to the cause, and view the documentary about Neil Platt's awareness campaign. It is inspirational (pun intended). You have until 10 July to download a copy: http://www.iambreathingfilm.com/register.

Oh, and it's a small world. My brother, Steve (another Waspish connection), attended Prof Shaw's clinic at King's College Hospital last summer. Steve's own journey was bang on the average 14 months from diagnosis to demise. Had he blogged himself, Steve's own Plattitude would have been, "You don't understand!"

During that short time he very much enjoyed a visit to the STUBS box at the Stoop to see Wasps rattle the hosts in April 2012, during Quins' championship season. Craig and Jan Vassie's facilities at the Stoop are excellent (thank you once again) and STUBS is another charity well worth supporting (http://www.stubs.org.uk/).

(See also:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10814430
http://www.sifoundation.com/research.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarrod_Cunningham
http://www.london-irish.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1566
http://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/15509.php#.UchUxOu7MUt
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1171732/My-friends-year-battle-motor-neurone-disease-inspired-walk-fire.html)