Major health update for AFL legend Neale Daniher as his daughter opens up about the star’s battle with terminal illness
BEC Daniher gave a major update on her father Neale’s condition in a candid interview with Let’s Talk.
Australian Football League legend Neale Daniher is one of four brothers who make up the side Daniher dynastyand has become the face of the fight against motor neuron disease.
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Former Essendon player and Melbourne football Club coach Neale was diagnosed with the degenerative disease in 2013.
Ten years after his diagnosis Bec revealed Her father continues to defy all odds, even though his condition has been deteriorating lately.
She told presenter Hamish McLachlan: “He was able to defy all odds but the odds are turning a little now.”
“Dad can’t speak anymore. The presence of death is so much more real than ever… I can feel it getting closer and closer.”
Neale has far exceeded the estimated lifespan after diagnosis – by almost eight years.
She continued: “To witness and watch dad go through this has been hard and it can be so hopeless. But we found each other.” Family regain control where we can.
“You make time for your family. Family is number one.
After his shock diagnosis, Neale dedicated his life to finding a cure for MND.
Neale is co-founder of “Fight MND“, an organization that seeks effective treatments and cures for the disease.
According to their website, “The horrifying and debilitating disease progressively deprives the patient of their ability to use their arms and legs, their ability to eat and swallow, their speech and ultimately their ability to breathe… all in an average period of just 27 months.”
The disease affects two sets of motor neurons in the central nervous system that are involved in triggering muscle contractions and movements.
MND is also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease in the US, named after the legendary baseball player who died from it.
There is no known cure for the deadly disease, although drug treatment has been approved to delay its progression.
Since 2017, Fight MND has raised more than A$10.45 million to support research into the brutal disease.
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