'It's difficult to watch dad fight this beast': Heartbroken daughter of footy legend who was given a terminal motor neurone disease diagnosis opens up on her father's struggle
- Footy legend Neale Daniher was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2014
- The former Essendon captain and Melbourne coach was given 27 months to live
- Five years later he's still fighting despite terrible illness making things difficult
- Daughter Bec, supporting him with the organisation to raise funds for research
The daughter of a footy legend who was diagnosed with terminal illness has opened up about her father's struggle.
Neale Daniher, the former Essendon captain and Melbourne coach, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2014.
'It's difficult to watch dad fight the beast,' his daughter Bec told The Today Show.
'It's a terrible illness. Things are getting more and more difficult.'
'It's difficult to watch dad fight the beast,' his daughter Bec told The Today Show
Neale Daniher, the former Essendon captain and Melbourne coach was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2014
The doctors informed the family they would have about 27 months before the disease took his life, but they were determined to fight.
MND is a condition which affects the nerve cells (neurons), causing weakness in the muscles that gets worse and eventually leads to paralysis, Health Direct says.
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Little is known about what causes MND. Most sufferers have no family history.
Following his diagnosis, Daniher launched a fundraiser, Fight MND, to help find a cure for the disease.
He had ambitions that $40 million would be raised in four years. Now in it's fifth year, the charity has raked in $46 million.
The organisation also holds a main event each year, The Big Freeze, on the Queen's Birthday, at the MCG where they send celebrities down a slide into freezing, ice water. They also sell beanies to raise money for research.
'It's been overwhelming, the support we've had,' Bec said.
'The donations help in such a big way because we’ve been able to fund seven clinical trials and nine research projects.'
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire takes part in the Big Freeze Ice Slide challenge fundraising event for Motor Neurone Disease in 2016
Following his diagnosis, Daniher launched a fundraiser, Fight MND, to help find a cure for the disease
'The donations help in such a big way because we’ve been able to fund seven clinical trials and nine research projects,' his daughter said.
Daniher has said the thing that makes him happiest about the organisation is that they're getting closer to a cure.
'Given I'm probably not supposed to be alive, I'm going very well,' he told AFL 360 on Wednesday night.
'It is getting harder but I knew that — we all know that — but I'm proving hard to kill.
'On average, you live for three years and I've got five and I might get a couple more.'
- Motor neurone disease (MND) | healthdirect
- www.foxsports.co...
- The Today Show on Twitter: "When AFL icon Neale Daniher was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, he was given two years to live...that was five years ago. Neale has set out to find a cure, raising $46 million in just four years. What an inspira ...
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