\u201cI want to transform hope into clear actions and then into outcomes going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what people living with it want to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moody was capped 71 times and captained England on 12 occasions.<\/p>\n
As a test player, Moody famously won the lineout which led to Jonny Wilkinson\u2019s drop goal that beat Australia in the dying seconds of extra time in the 2003 World Cup final. <\/p>\n
He also won two European Cups with Leicester.<\/p>\n
Moody said he was devastated when the original specialist gave him the news last year without offering a glimmer of hope.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, what? Where\u2019s the information? Where\u2019s anything else other than negativity?\u201d the 47-year-old said.<\/p>\n
However, his spirits were later raised after seeing a second specialist, Professor Martin Turner, an Oxford-based consultant neurologist specialising in MND research.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe diagnosis didn\u2019t change,\u201d Moody, who is undergoing a trial with Turner, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he was much more informative. He was really clear on everyone is unique and everyone\u2019s journey is different.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used the word hope, which I found doctors and specialists very rarely ever use a term like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Backing up his words, Moody today announced plans to undertake a 500-mile (804km), seven-day cycling challenge to raise funds and awareness for the fight against MND.<\/p>\n
The \u201cLewis XV\u201d ride \u2013 which includes former teammates such as Wilkinson, Phil Vickery and Martin Corry as well as his sons Dylan and Ethan \u2013 begins in Newcastle on June 14 and arrives at Twickenham with the match ball for the Prem final on June 20.<\/p>\n
It will raise funds for My Name\u20195 Doddie Foundation (MNDF), established by Weir.<\/p>\n
MNDF has committed more than \u00a323.5 million ($53.74m) to MND research programmes and provided more than \u00a32m in direct support to people living with the disease.<\/p>\n
According to Nicola Boseman, chief executive of MNDF, six people a day in Britain are diagnosed with MND.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many ways I have been brought off the bench to take this baton forward and get this job done,\u201d Moody said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an easy thing to say but very difficult thing to achieve in my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moody said the response to his call for others to come on board for the challenge had been overwhelming even from those who hated riding bikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI chatted to Vicks [Phil Vickery] the other day, he was like, \u2018mate, I absolutely\u2019, he used some expletives, \u2018hate cycling. But I\u2019m 100% going to do this with you\u2019,\u201d Moody said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it is that sense of connection again and coming together and camaraderie and all that sort of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moody admits physically he feels things changing gradually, such as his shoulder strength \u201cis diminished\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest thing is noticing every day the little things.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other day I noticed a slight difference in my finger strength, whether it\u2019s opening a bottle top, holding a fork, cutting your food and those little things mentally are a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think within a day, you can move past it. Just focus on things I can do rather than things that I\u2019m less able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moody said though the start date for the bike ride is fast approaching there is logic behind it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping that there will be many more challenges that I\u2019m able to take part in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason for its proximity is because of my desire to want to be a part of it as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than just have other people do it in my name.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI want to transform hope into clear actions and then into outcomes going forward. \u201cThat\u2019s what people living…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5837,1558,1239,58204,7123,127,7191,202922,1634,15124,16773,2883,78,27494,27617,202804,6844,202921,111,139,69,28243,8205,6327,2687,312,48077,213,684,10508,102,377],"class_list":{"0":"post-392773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-battle","9":"tag-been","10":"tag-condition","11":"tag-cure","12":"tag-current","13":"tag-despite","14":"tag-disease","15":"tag-emboldened","16":"tag-england","17":"tag-fight","18":"tag-great","19":"tag-hope","20":"tag-in","21":"tag-lewis","22":"tag-mnd","23":"tag-moody","24":"tag-motor","25":"tag-neurone","26":"tag-new-zealand","27":"tag-newzealand","28":"tag-nz","29":"tag-offered","30":"tag-rare","31":"tag-rugby","32":"tag-saying","33":"tag-says","34":"tag-specialist","35":"tag-sports","36":"tag-there","37":"tag-winner","38":"tag-with","39":"tag-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}