I am a wife and carer for my husband, who 5yrs ago was diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease.

In the last year his condition deteriorated very quickly that and now he is in a wheelchair. While he was in Hospital they reassessed his condition and he is now diagnosed with Multi-System-Atrophy which still has Parkinsons Symptoms but the body functions are all slowing down so he is unable to walk, write or do all those things that make a body function normally. It is very frustrating for him as he has always been such an active person.

Living with someone who is unable get about normally is a very emotional and stressful time. The last 5years have been very hard needing a lot of patience and understanding, he often thanks me but I keep reminding him I am sure he would be doing the same for me if I was the one with the Neurological Disability.

He still is a wonderful fun-loving person with an amazing sense of humour and never questions or complains about his condition. We have been married for 34 years and have two wonderful children who help us a lot.

He has been going to Real People@the Beacon and really enjoyed the contact with lots of wonderful people who all have different Neurological Conditions.All the staff has a Nursing background which make for a safe environment.

Having wonderful close family and makes life a lot easier for us. He spends a lot of time on the computer, which is his communication to the outside world and keeping in contact with everyone. It's the couple things in life that we miss doing like walking together, dancing and overseas holidays. Life can deal some unexpected blows and it is heartbreaking to see someone you love wasting away. Nobody knows when something like this is going to happen to them.

It's important that the carers are cared about too and get the support they need to carry on.