MND - Laxton, Paul

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Résumé :
Motor Neurone Disease is a vile affliction that gradually robs the sufferer of all their independence and dignity, locking both invalid and carer into a death spiral. This book charts one couple's journey and its brutal physical and emotional impact. Despite being an always fatal condition, MND enjoys only Cinderella status in respect of both research funding and charitable giving. As such all the royalties from this book will be donated to MND Association. It charts also the truism that fighting a terminal illness is only a part of your battle when you run up against those great organs of the British state; the local authority and the NHS. As it turned out my wife died before we got into any battles about funding, but there was no avoiding conflict with the NHS, with Covid and the response to it as an inescapable backcloth. The book charts the emotionally exhausting battle with bureaucrats, when our freedoms were surrendered to an unfeeling officialdom that at times seemed drunk on its power. I am reminded of the words of Benjamin Franklin; 'Those who choose safety over liberty deserve neither.' This book is a microcosm of how we were governed during the pandemic.

Sommaire:
Paul Laxton was born in Darwen, Lancashire in December 1952. He was educated at St Mary's College, Blackburn, which was then a Roman Catholic Direct Grant Grammar School for Boys. In 1979, the author graduated from Keele University with a Bachelor of Education degree (upper second class honours) in history and education. He taught at High Schools in King's Lynn and Newcastle-under-Lyme before joining the Prison Service as a uniformed officer in 1984. The author served at nine different jails, rising to hold posts as Deputy Governor at Dover, Ford and Lewes prisons, before retiring in 2010. An active trade unionist, he served on the National Executive Committee of the Prison Governors Association from 2007 and was awarded Distinguished Life Membership on retirement. After leaving the service, he moved to West Yorkshire with his wife, Leonore, where he keeps himself busy as Editor of the Retired Governors Newsletter, Chair of the West Yorkshire Civil Service Pensioners' Alliance, and as an active member of the Campaign for Real Ale. When he can find the time, few things make him happier than a day at the races. Paul Laxton is a lifelong Blackburn Rovers supporter and a member at Lancashire County Cricket Club....