Corrie stars visit Rochdale Community Fire Station for Motor Neurone Disease fundraiser day

Two Coronation Street actors who are involved in a plotline about Motor Neurone Disease visited the Rochdale Community Fire Station open day – raising money for the MND Association – on Saturday 23 September.

Rochdale’s Blue Watch team hosted an open day to raise money for the MND Association after a colleague developed the disease – and they were joined on the day by Corrie’s Daniel Brocklebank and Dolly Rose Campbell, who respectively portray Billy Mayhew and Gemma Winter.

Members of the public had the chance to see live demonstrations and various fire service vehicles and fire appliances on display, as well as meet and talk with the firefighters and other staff members.

 

 

Blue Watch also challenged themselves to an extreme endurance event by running the bleep test to the firefighter selection standard every hour, on the hour for 24 hours.

The open day also featured face painting, a bouncy castle, and fairground rides as well as other children’s activities and food.

The MND Association has been supporting the Coronation Street team with the onscreen portrayal of motor neurone disease. In March, viewers saw Billy’s partner Paul Foreman – who is Gemma’s twin brother – starting to struggle with his grip.

He began dropping glasses, was seen mis-throwing darts in the pub and was sent home from work after experiencing difficulty handling his tools. His symptoms were initially blamed on a car accident but he was eventually referred to a neurologist for tests and he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

 

What is Motor Neurone Disease?

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) affects the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord, which tell your muscles what to do.

If you have MND, this means your movement will be affected and you are likely to get a wide range of symptoms, which can include muscle weakness, muscle cramps and spasms, stiff joints, pain or discomfort, speech and communication problems, swallowing difficulties, saliva problems, weakened coughing, breathing problems, emotional lability, or changes to thinking and behaviour.

There is no cure for the illness.

There are different types of MND which cause a range of symptoms which progress at varying speeds: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); bulbar onset MND or progressive bulbar palsy (PBP); progressive muscular atrophy (PMA), and primary lateral sclerosis (PLS).

ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease after the American baseball star player who was diagnosed with it, is the most common type of MND. Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking is one of the most notable people to have lived with the condition before he died in 2018.

Source: Motor Neurone Disease Association

 

Daniel, who has been an ambassador for the MND Association for the last 23 years, revealed to the Sun earlier this month that his own grandfather died of Motor Neurone Disease.

At the time of publication, approximately £2,000 from the Rochdale Fire Station open day has been raised for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Donations can still be made via JustGiving: www.justgiving.com/page/lewis-burrow-1685479562283