Liam BarnesEast Midlands and
Ash GeaneyBBC Radio Nottingham
BBC
Dave Wells, centre, with son Buddy and partner Roz
Friends of a man living with Parkinson’s disease have reunited to record a song he wrote more than 50 years ago.
Dave Wells, now 68, penned Walk With Me as a 17-year-old, but the song was never released after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1993.
The track “remained dormant for some five decades” until a group of Dave’s old school friends decided to record it in 2024.
A launch party was held on Tuesday to celebrate the single’s release, with proceeds going to Parkinson’s UK and a new local support group being set up in Retford, Nottinghamshire.
A launch party for the single was held on Tuesday
Mr Wells married Roz in June 1993, but was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s just months later.
He was one of the first people to have deep brain stimulation, a surgical therapy to treat the movement symptoms of the disease, in 2003.
Ms Wells said the launch of the recording of one of his songs more than five decades after it was written was “amazing”.
“It was positive, supportive and wonderful,” she said.
“Dave had a fantastic time, and that’s what it was all about.
“It’s just lovely to be able to spread a bit of awareness about Parkinson’s in general, but particularly about early-onset Parkinson’s.”
Parkinson’s is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over the years, according to the NHS.
Symptoms include involuntary shaking, slow movement, and stiff and inflexible muscles.
‘Celebration of my dad’
Before his diagnosis, Mr Wells played the drums in a rock band in London, which is when he wrote Walk with Me.
The song was recorded at a studio in Retford, with the aim of raising money but also to provide Mr Wells with “a memorable few days”.
Buddy Wells, 21, said the launch event for his father’s song “was a celebration of my dad, of his life, and of his resilience”.
“It’s primarily a celebration of his love of music, and how much he’s persevered to still be here,” he said.
“Knowing that he’s still here to be able to celebrate this, and parts of his early life before he was impacted by Parkinson’s, I think is amazing.
“No matter how many times he goes into hospital, no matter how many times he gets a bit worse, he’s still always holding strong, and he has persevered through so much to be here, and it inspires me.”