Living with MND for 11 years
The only thing Deon Nel can do is move his eyes, and by blinking three times, he shows his wife he loves her.
Deon and Bernice Nel celebrated 11 years of living with Motor Neuron Decease (MND) by going out for a milkshake.
This was Deon’s first outing in years and took Bernice two months to plan.
Since being diagnosed with ALS MND, Deon has lost the ability to use his body completely and can now only move his eyes.
“He speaks with his eyes, and can even say I love you. He has a certain way of communicating, he blinks three times in a row, and then I know,” an emotional Bernice said.
Earlier this month, Bernice took Deon out of the house for the first time in 11 years to go drink a milkshake at Silverstar Casino.
Bernice describes the last 11 years as a very rough.
“I do not know how I would have done this without mercy from above. Deon has such a fighting spirit and his will to live has given us the will to fight.”
In the beginning Bernice did not even know how to check his blood pressure properly, but had learned all this and more as she has been by Deon’s side every step of the way.
For Christmas Bernice will have the family over for a special lunch.
They are looking forward to taking Deon on his second outing before or on New Year’s Day and are planning to take him to Cradlestone Mall since Bernice has never been at the mall since it opened.
“I have never been there, we have only seen the grey roof from a distance and I am very curios,” Bernice explained.
24 November was Deon Nel’s 11th anniversary with living with MND.
More Deon Nel stories:
• Tweet tweet – super media saves the day
• Fundraiser to give ALS MND disease sufferer a voice
• Kitaarkêrels vereer hul grootste aanhanger
