Michael Patrick, a writer and actor who appeared in Game of Thrones, has died. He was 35 years old.<\/p>\n
Patrick, an Irish actor who played a wildling in an episode of Game of Thrones Season 6, died in hospice care, according to his wife, Naomi Sheehan, who confirmed the news via social media. Patrick had been diagnosed with a motor neuron disease. <\/p>\n
\u201cLast night, Mick sadly passed away in the Northern Ireland Hospice,\u201d Sheehan stated in her social media post. \u201cHe was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease 1st February 2023. He was admitted 10 days ago and was cared for by the incredible team there. He passed peacefully surrounded by family and friends. Words can\u2019t describe how broken-hearted we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheehan continued, \u201cIt\u2019s been said more than once that Mick was an inspiration to everyone who was privileged enough to come into contact with him, not just in the past few years during his illness but in every day of his life,\u201d she wrote. \u201cHe lived a life as full as any human can live. Joy, abundance of spirit, infectious laughter. A titan of a ginger haired man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are so grateful for every person who supported us through the last few years,\u201d she concluded. \u201cMick loved this quote from Brendan Behan and this feels appropriate now: \u2018The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink and somebody to love you.\u2019 So, don\u2019t overthink it. Eat. Drink. Love. Naomi \u2014 Mick\u2019s wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
In February, Patrick made what would become his final social media post. At the time, he revealed his neurologist estimated he had one year left ot live.<\/p>\n
What Is Motor Neuron Disease?<\/p>\n
Motor neuron disease is actually a collection of several different neurological disorders, the most common being ALS. Patrick’s specific diagnosis was not revealed to the public.<\/p>\n
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, motor neuron diseases, or MNDS, “destroy motor neurons, the cells that control skeletal muscle activity such as walking, breathing, speaking, and swallowing.”<\/p>\n
The destruction of those neurons causes muscles to shrink, weaken, and eventually atrophy. Eventually, people with MNDs may lose the ability to walk or become unable to control their movements.<\/p>\n
These conditions become fatal when the muscles that control breathing weaken, and the lungs are no longer able to take in sufficient oxygen or expel carbon dioxide. Symptoms could include “breathlessness, shortness of breath that occurs while lying down, recurrent chest infections, disturbed sleep, poor concentration and\/or memory, confusion, morning headaches, and fatigue.”<\/p>\n
MND can occur in both adults and children, and in children, it tends to be due to genetic mutations. Symptoms may present at birth or surface early in childhood.<\/p>\n
For adults, MNDs can come with no family history. Symptoms often appear after the age of 50, though early onset is possible.<\/p>\n
Some MNDs are inherited, but the root cause of most remains unknown. Viral and environmental factors may play a role in when and how MNDs develop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Patrick, a writer and actor who appeared in Game of Thrones, has died. He was 35 years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-594609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}