My uncle John Joe Naughton was a local legend around St Brendan’s Park and Ch Chemists. He was known well for his darts display, his soccer skills during his years as a centre forward with the Park and his minor years with Austin Stacks. Impossible to mark and a winner of almost every award with the Park FC.
Unfortunately, he died on Dec 5th 2012 aged 61. He suffered 6 long years with this disease and fought it with as much tenacity as he did during his playing years on the field. Not a complaint to be uttered from his mouth and his battle was sadly lost when he could fight no more. It took quite a while to be diagnosed with PSP, it really was not heard of, very rare they said. My family found it very difficult during this time. There were no support groups for families with PSP until recently but still no cure. It is, by far the worst thing in the world to watch someone you love, slowly disappear over time. To actually forget what their voice sounded like, brought tears to my eyes, but all I could remember was him struggling to talk over the past 5 years.
It no longer became a life. He could not drink without a food thickener and all his food had to be puréed. He could not walk or talk anymore. As time went on, it became more and more difficult to communicate. His eyes were a constant stare. I watched him fall many a time and often we had to wait for help in order to get him back up. We need to know more about this disease, we need to gather money so more research can be done. Without this awareness and help, many families like ours are left with unanswered questions. What causes PSP? Why mostly men? Why is it mostly at the later stages in life? Why do these brain neurons die?
Our goal is to raise awareness for PSP. It is being diagnosed more and more throughout the world but there is no knowledge as to why it occurs nor is there any cure for it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVjeVXLTLg
PSPA Ireland 