Walk to Defeat MND organiser Tamara Henderson is encouraging the community to get involved in a 5km walk this Sunday to support Territory families who have been impacted by Motor Neuron Disease, with funds raised going towards vital equipment

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We know that there is a wonderful event that's organized
for this weekend now, A five kilometer walk is happening
on Sunday. It's aimed to support territory families who've been
impacted by motor neuron disease. It is now in its
fifth year and organizers are hoping to raise awareness of
the debilitating condition and smash last year's fundraising effort of

(00:24):
twenty thousand dollars. That is absolutely awesome from last year.
So joining me on the line is walk to defeat MND.
Organizer Tamara Henderson, I'm just having some issues with my
phone line. Actually, let me just see whether I'm able
to get her on there. Hopefully I've got tomorrow now.
Good morning tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Good morning Katie. How you doing?

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, really good, Great to have you on the show
now tomorrow. Firstly, tell us what is MND for anyone
listening this morning who's not familiar with the disease.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
In your own, disease is when your muscles start breaking
down and they stop working. So any part of your
body that needs a muscle to do what it does,
like breathing, blinking, swallowing, walking, can be affected. And it
really it depends on each person as to what's affected,

(01:20):
in what way and how quickly it affects the body.
Some people can take years and years and years to
get to the point where it's end of life, and
other people can be within eighteen months.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
How prevalent is it in the Northern territory.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
For what I was what I understand, we've got at
least ten people at all times in the territory that
are affected by it. That number can go up and down,
but it sort of seems fairly constant at that and
that's people that are registered with Modern Your Own Disease
New South Wales. So they could possibly be people out

(02:00):
there that are affected that don't get the support from
MND that they should that they can.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah, So tomorrow Watts planned for the walk on Sunday, Well, we've.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Got a we need people to come down. Walk starts
at nine o'clock. After the walk's finished, we're going to
be having sausage sizzle. We've actually got wicked and idea
coming down. They're going to give us the do US
a drink station this year because they're.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Awesome, awesome.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
We have so many people that are that are willing
to help out this year. Our sponsors alone have reached
five thousand dollars already this year and that's just sponsorships.
So we've also got a raffle price raffle going. So
we've got some amazing prizes from various businesses around Palmerston

(02:51):
and Darwin. So you know, we've got vouchers from Valentine's,
We've got vouchers from Access Pilates. They're near for us
this year.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
Plenty of sponsors ready to help out. Where and when
is it happening exactly?

Speaker 2 (03:08):
So Jingly Water Gardens. Yep, if you get down just
before nine o'clock, walks outs at nine. Yeah, come on
down and come and join us. We've got face paint
is coming. It's going to be really really fun morning.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
It sounds like going to be a lovely event for
the whole family. How many people are you hoping or
are you maybe expecting this year?

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Well, this is Darwin. So last year I think on
Friday afternoon we had five people registered, we had thirty
people turn up. Isn't that the.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
Worst when you're trying to organize something in Darwin? It
happens with everything tomorrow?

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Oh yes, yes, it's Darwin. Last minute dot com We
already have thirty people registered, including a dog, So so
bring a dog down, bring your kids down. It's a
good fun morning. And it's right down near where the
so we're sort of separated from where the playground is,
but you can still see your kids there.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah. Now, tell me in terms of the fundraising, what
is that money being raised for. What's it going to
go towards?

Speaker 2 (04:12):
This year? They've got lots of little things coming up,
so it's really hard to list all all the stuff
that Last year, I had forteen thousand dollars worth of
this specialized equipment come up to dal On itself, and
then they had a similar amount go down to Alice Springs.
So they've also purchased over the years. It's a specialized wheelchair,

(04:33):
so it actually helps the person in the wheelchair be
able to stand up, so they'll come from sitting like
it raises them up so that they can stand up
without having to put too much pressure on the care
to be able to lift them up. And that's that's
really important for caras because Backsafe. They've also sending up

(04:55):
some specialized iPads because with your decrease mobility, it's harder
to press on everything on the iPad, so this is
actually bigger area for letters and things. So it's it's
the small things and even just being able to google
something is you know, it can get really hard, but.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
They're massive to people's lives and being able to live,
you know, live as normally as possible, or be able
to do things as normally as as they used to do.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, so we a couple of years ago, we had
a couple that were traveling around Australia. That husband had
M and D and he couldn't swallow anymore. So but
he could, you know, still walk around, still enjoys everything,
just wasn't able to actually swallow, so he would have
to his wife would have to actually put water into

(05:53):
his mouth, like just so he didn't get dry mouth
all the time. So it's the small things that can happen.
And in the energy, you've become trapped in your body,
so your brain's still going. Jesus would be still in there.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, it must be so tough for those families and
and you know for those living with MND, which is
why this weekend and this walk is so important. So
where can people go if they're keen to register?

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Okay, so we have a Facebook page. If all right,
mm D Community darling yeap is the facebook page? Or
if you google MMD, walk down and it'll come up.

Speaker 1 (06:41):
Yeah, well tomorrow it sounds like it's going to be
a fantastic event. Thank you so much for having a
chat with us this morning. And I reckon you're going
to raise heaps of money and I hope you get
plenty of people there as well.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, it's always a really good, really good morning. And
the biggest part that I find the participants get out
of it is the support that you find from people
that have been there, done that. So last year we
had a family where a member had just been diagnosed
and they were at the they're at the start of
their journey, and there were people there going, well, you know,

(07:16):
this is what's available, this is what can help. Some
have a coffee with us, we can talk about it.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
That's a really important thing for people going through that
journey to hear and to have others around them who
are able to, you know, to provide that bit of
support and that bit of help.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, and it's such a hard disease and you know,
NT is so separated from everything else. It's the community's
support is really important for people.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
You're sport on well tomorrow. Henderson. It is lovely to
speak with you this morning. Thank you so much for
joining us and all the best for the weekend.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Thank you for your time.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Thank you