Bournemouth Lions

 

I work (for now), I love, I live, I have fun. Just with wheelchairs and drugs and spasms and stuff...

 
14 October 2022
The sails of the tallship 'Tenacious' unfurled at night. Lit only by moonlight against the sea.

Briefly Escaping a Progressive Illness

So I know I’m lucky. I have a wonderful family and close friends. I made it to 53 before medical retirement and after an amazing career. I keep getting wonderful representation and speaking opportunities out of the blue. So, despite Kate Winslet *still* not having picked up the telephone, all in all I’m having a stonking time. But having an overwhelmingly shitty disease pretty shittily is shitty nonetheless. I’m proud to be disabled, proud of how I handle it. I just need a break from it every so often. Adrenaline JunkieOutside family and friendship fun, my general approach to escaping Multiple Sclerosis is to pursue ‘heavy nonsensing’. The scarier the better. Adrenaline rocks! With the help of organisations like Http://www.Sportability., […]
15 July 2021
A very handsome chap is on a patio, arms wide open and a celebratory look on his face. He is in a Wheelchair Rugby Chair. He's wearing shorts, a white shirt with multicolour shoulder area. And a ridiculous Mohican dyed rusty orange.

How I Found My Exercise Mojo Again

Mark Webb is starring in the latest ‘We Are Undefeatable’ ad campaign – to encourage people with long-term health conditions to get active. [A Guest Blog for the http://MSSociety.org.uk ] He tells us about his journey to becoming a ‘hunk in one bicep’… Pre-diagnosis Once upon a time, I was a high flying school rugby captain and a sporty all-rounder. Then a flashy ski rep living the high life in the Swiss Alps. Then not so long ago but still a distant memory, I worked for a health and fitness brand. Every Saturday I’d be sweating away in the gym and in spin classes. I’d complete an annual triathlon and swim at least twice a week. But something wasn’t right. I would […]
31 December 2020

Fundraise Bloody Fundraise!

Oops. My improbable plan was to offer up an alternative Queen’s Speech for Christmas Day. But clever friends (or Santa, depending on your age as you read this), bought me a bottle of Salted Caramel Tequila. They know the way to my heart and to my taste buds. First two shots, 9.30am. ‘Writing’ quickly burbled its way to foggy impossibility. “Cog fog!” (Cognitive Dysfunction), shout MSers. “Sozzled,” admits I…     Instead I shall emulate all our glorious political and religious leaders and issue a New Year’s Message. That’ll show ‘em. ‘Fundraise, Bloody Fundraise!’ is my 2021 nag. If you are of a certain age or you like your 80’s music, you’ll get the rhyming plagiarism in the title from […]
18 April 2020
A man lies sprawled in the shade. He is lying across a sofa, asleep. He is wearing pyjamas, with his T-shirt riding up to reveal a less than glamorous belly. He has a dodgy Mohican haircut.

Covid-19 ain’t no flu. My Coronavirus and my Multiple Sclerosis

Yikes! Well that’s been a fun two weeks or so. Not. Lockdown all started out ok. The sun was out and I was set on getting just a bit fitter. This brief video of me exercising is not speeded up. At all. No sir-eee https://youtu.be/lKE6OAxR9HI Then, just as the U.K. was approaching peak cases and hospitals were heroically, desperately bursting at the seams, I developed the main symptoms of Covid-19. A constant, exhausting and painful dry cough. A fever. In my case, a sore throat and a touch of nausea too. And anxiety through the roof. A doctor call-back confirmed I probably had it, as did a dashed paramedic visit to our son, who also had Covid-19, but with an […]