My Name'5 DODDIE: The Autobiography

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Kathy rolls her eyes. “He’s got a betting account. But he’s run out of money on it and I refuse to top it up.”

The World According to Doddie: An A-Z of Life and how to Live it

They were together on the terrible Friday afternoon of 23 December 2016 when a specialist delivered the shattering diagnosis that Doddie had MND – and predicted that he would be unable to walk within a year. The former player, who had retired in 2004, defied that prognosis for over four years as he showed the galloping determination which, when he first played for Scotland, prompted the great commentator Bill McLaren to call him “a mad giraffe”. 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 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.’” 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 That it makes an extraordinarily good Christmas present, and one you’d want to keep, rather than share – so you really must buy more! I think it is about doing what you can today rather than putting it off until another time. That could be a useful mantra for life in general, not just because you have MND. But the more advanced this disease becomes, the more chance there is that someday, tomorrow, you might not be able to do the simplest of things. And, that means it’s gone, forever. Can you give Enable readers any insight into the stories included within the book?I wasn’t keen, but was eventually convinced that there were people wanting to know how I was getting on, and for a great many, looking for guidance having found themselves in a similar situation. Hence why the diary came around. While I’ve got a decent memory, there was so much happening that thankfully, Stewart (Weir, and thankfully no relation) had been noting the highs and lows, and I just had to join up the dots. What was the writing and editing process like with this book? 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.” 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.” 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 fights back tears as Scotland rugby legend speaks Doddie Weir fights back tears as Scotland rugby legend speaks

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.” Doddie, who has just 38p left in his betting account, becomes more serious when explaining that he avoids discussing death. “I don’t talk about that because I’m trying not to go there.” The truth is that I cannot now wash, dress or visit the wee boys’ room without help,” revealed the Scot in an extract published by the Telegraph.

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That’s why it is a big thing for campaigners - all three of us are involved in a very special group who need help. There is no cure. It is a terminal illness. Will there be a fourth book? The answer to that is no. Although as James Bond once said, never say never. Scotland star Doddie Weir playing for the national team in 1991 (Image: SNS Group) Read More Related Articles

Book release: Doddie Weir’s five year journey with MND Book release: Doddie Weir’s five year journey with MND

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 GuardianFor Kathy, “Doddie thinks a lot more than me. He’s always thinking about his next move and I just go along with it. We make jokes and laugh a lot. You’ve got to do that …” 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. Basically it is a muscle wasting disease and that’s how in the later life of MND it is horrific because you need help everywhere. Doddie Weir now sometimes uses Eyegaze software to help him communicate, which helps to give him independence at home. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian Alan Tait (Scotland): “He seemed to have the uncanny ability to always be in the right place at the right time. Then you realised that was because he was pushing opponents into areas where they had no space to work. He was also the tightest man in the world.”