[Music] Hi, my name is Neil Daniher. I have motor neurone disease. It is a progressive disease that takes your ability to move, speak, swallow and breathe. I call it a beast of diseases.
There is currently no major treatments or cure. When I was diagnosed in 2013, I was told the lifespan was around 3 years and there was no hope. I didn't like the sound of that, so we have set up the Fight MND Foundation to give those diagnosed in the future some hope.
Neil is an incredible human being. He will do whatever he can to work through any problem that he comes up against. When Neil was diagnosed, he was told to just tick off his bucket list. But the type of person that he is, he decided that he wanted to do something with the time he had left to try and find a treatment and cure for motor neurone disease.
So 10 years on, we have 15 clinical trials. We have 600 people that have had the option to go on trials and we have 30 drug development projects. But we also have a lot of money now going into research teams and supporting researchers which, when he was diagnosed, there wasn't very much of that around. Our impact has included injecting over $100 million into medical research in Australia. This has been a real game changer in the fight against MND and as we now fund a small industry of researchers whose aim is to find treatment. We have brought medical trials to those living with MND in Australia and we have driven great awareness to the fight, however, until we find a cure the fight will not end.
Neil's incredibly passionate about fight MND. He wants to see a world where MND no longer a terminal illness. He's worked incredibly hard and I know he'll continue for as long as he possibly can, even though life is getting harder and harder for him. Having no hope is devastating. We wanted to change that narrative. We want to give those diagnosed hope. Our mission is a world without MND. Until then we hope the community continues the fight with us. [Music]
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