27 Jun 2022
A vet who applied her experience to supporting her husband following his diagnosis with motor neurone disease is now preparing to tackle a major new challenge to raise funds and awareness.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Lowri Davies (right) with husband Bob, son William and My Name’5 Doddie trustee Scott Hastings (left).
A vet and fund-raising campaigner is gearing up for a gruelling new challenge to support research into motor neurone disease (MND).
Lowri Davies, a former president of the British Veterinary Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine Association, is not only planning to climb the UK’s three highest peaks in four days, but also to cycle around 450 miles between them.
The challenge is the latest to be inspired by the condition of Lowri’s husband, Bob, who was diagnosed with MND in October 2020.
It aims to raise at least £10,000 for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which was set up by the former Scottish international rugby union player Doddie Weir after he revealed his own MND diagnosis five years ago.
More than £1,100 has been raised so far through an online donation page.
And Dr Davies – who runs the SMART clinic in Cardiff and Swansea, and set up MotorOn Cymru following Bob’s diagnosis – said its focus on research was key to their decision to work with the foundation.
She said: “The input we had was on how to die rather than how to live and I think that’s the reason Doddie set up the foundation.”
The new challenge will start on 13 July with the 1,345m climb of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles.
From there, Dr Davies and her team will ride up to 245 miles before tackling England’s highest peak, the 968m Scafell Pike in the Lake District.
The following day, after around 200 more miles in the saddle, they plan to scale the 1,045m of Snowdon.
A team of 10 is planning to join Lowri for the entire challenge, with others joining for specific elements.
The UK challenge follows a similar event last year to cover Wales’ three highest peaks – Snowdon, Cadair Idris and Pen y Fan – which raised around £80,000 for causes including the foundation and the Skanda Vale Hospice in Ceredigion.
Despite his diagnosis, Mr Davies, who is a director of the SMART clinic, cycled to, and walked up, all three climbs.
He was also among the team that pedalled from Snowdonia to Edinburgh to present the donation to the foundation to Mr Weir’s former international team-mate, Scott Hastings, who is one of its trustees.
Because of his advancing condition, Mr Davies, who is also a keen motorcyclist, is now only able to walk short distances.
But he’s still determined to do as much as possible and rode a three-wheeled motorbike round Germany’s famous Nurburgring circuit to mark the recent Global MND Awareness Day.
Dr Davies added: “He’s still fighting it.”
Following his diagnosis, Lowri had to draw on her own experience as a veterinary sports medicine and rehabilitation specialist to support her husband with therapy and nutrition.
As well as regular physiotherapy and gym sessions, he has weekly sessions in a hyperbaric chamber, hydrotherapy and three weekly acupuncture sessions. He is also on a specialised diet, which is intended to maintain his muscle mass and reduce inflammation.
In April this year, Mr Davies joined a clinical trial to test two drugs that it is hoped can slow the progression of MND. Previously, there had been no access to clinical trials for MND treatments throughout Wales through what MotorOn Cymru’s website described as a “postcode lottery” of access to research work.
Their new target is the establishment of a clinic led by a specialist MND consultant, which Lowri says is vital to ensuring continuing progress and accessing funding.
Last November, the UK Government pledged £50 million of funding for research into a cure, though there are now claims the money has not been forthcoming.
Dr Davies said: “Until that [the clinic] happens, we’ll be excluded from future research.”
