Tara Murray
Friends and family are gathering around Craigieburn’s Kevin Forman as he deals with the life-changing news that he has motor neuron disease (MND).
The father of four, who works for Yarra Trams, was diagnosed in June, having started suffering symptoms earlier this year.
MND is a neurodegenerative disease that causes muscle weakness, with average life expectancy after diagnosis being two to three years.
Mr Forman said it has been pretty tough to let the news settle in.
“I have had symptoms since January,” he said.
“My right foot would flap when I walked. I lost strength in my thumb on my index finger on my right hand.
“The foot flap is one of the main signals. I had months and months of tests, as there’s no actual test for MND.”
Mr Forman said the hardest thing for him was knowing that he was unlikely to see his children grow up.
He has four kids aged 12, 10, eight and six.
“It will be a struggle,” he said. “They don’t understand what will happen to me.”
Mr Forman’s colleagues have rallied around him following the diagnoses, with Ashleigh House setting up a mycause fundraising page.
He said he was brought to tears by the colleagues’ big hearts.
Ms House said that Mr Forman was a genuinely nice guy who would do anything for anyone.
“The news sent everyone at work through a loop as you here about those sorts of things but they’re never close to home,” she said.
“I set up the page and there has been great support with messages and people offering to mow his lawn.
“This is completely life-changing for him.”
To donate: www.mycause.com.au/p/254412/help-kevin-fight-mnd
