After months of struggling to walk Harmen was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in September 2004. Following his diagnosis and while he was physically able to he was very active in raising awareness and funds for MND - his face actually features on the MND Association Website. He’s the good looking one in the third small square at the bottom of some pages. This was taken during a walk from Kings College Hospital to Downing Street where he was part of the group who presented written personal experiences from people living with MND. We also both appeared on the front cover of the Autumn 2005 edition of the MND Magazine, Thumb Print outside ‘the black door’. Immediately after Harmen was diagnosed we didn’t receive the best support from our local MND Association branch but so many people wanted to do something that The Wobbly Club was formed. Most of the money raised was donated to Kings College Stem Cell Cloning Research though some was held back to buy equipment that Harmen needed. In total £13,360 was raised through The Wobbly Club and Harmen often featured in the local newspaper, The Herts Advertiser. Once we moved to a new Bungalow we slipped over the boundary and so ‘qualified’ for the North & East Herts Branch of the MND Association who were incredibly supportive. By this time though the immediate need for help was gone but mainly Harmen was wheelchair bound and getting to the meetings took so much effort in the end we stopped going. We though always knew that there was someone at the end of the phone if we ever needed them. Harmen tackled his illness with great determination and always wanted to solve the next problem he faced. He was so positive when talking with and educating people about MND. Sadly though Harmen also raised some other awareness – the lack of local respiratory support in Hertfordshire. The solution to this last problem came too late. After putting up a big fight to get it - it was the ventilator that shortened Harmens life and he died in great agony from a Bowel Obstruction. The cause – the ventilator setting pushed too much air into his already weakened body. Though he wanted to be at home this complication meant that he was actually in Hospice when he died. Immediately after his death his family and I wanted to acknowledge what the Hospice had done for him during his final days so a Justgiving page was created - www.justgiving.com/harmen Harmens family and I though still fully support The Motor Neurone Association and we would be delighted if anyone makes a donation through this website. MND Website: www.mndassociation.org Helen van Rijs