Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Brave daughter’s fundraising drive kicks off

Post Thumbnail

A teenager who has inherited the same muscle wasting disease as her father is helping to send him overseas for a new treatment which gives them both hope for the future.

Kirsten McNeill, 19, of Lochgilphead, in Argyll, has discovered that she has the gene which causes cerebeller hereditary ataxia.

Her dad Brian, also known as Barney, 44, of Tarbert, Argyll, suffers from the condition that has already claimed the lives of so many members of their family.

He uses a motability scooter and struggles with day-to-day tasks.

Her granny Chris died aged 60 in 1991 along with aunts Marie, 41, Margaret, 47 and Christine, 55, who passed away in 2004, 2007 respectively.

Now a treatment has been claimed in China which uses magnets to energise the brain cells and helps reverse the symptoms.

This first of two fundraising dances takes place on Saturday in Tarbert Village Hall which Kirsten hopes will help raise £10,000 to send her father for the treatment, as soon as possible.

She said: “If this helps my dad, it gives me hope to go and give the treatment a go one day.”

The dance kicks off at 8.30pm with music from local band The Democrats playing from 9-11pm followed by a disco.

Kirsten added: “The community of Tarbert has the best support team I know, I’m looking forward to seeing all my hard work come together and everyone having a great time this weekend.”

Another dance will take place in Ardrishaig Village Hall on Hogmanay.

People can donate to to the Send Barney to China Fund by visiting

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/send-barney-to-china/273091#

.

Brian said: “I have lost my mum and three sisters to that illness. This has been a curse to the whole family. I have got a family tree that goes back to 1890 and there must be 20 or more people that have had ataxia. Hopefully this is the end of it. It is not a cure but it would be something that could control it.

“I am very proud of Kirsten for what she is doing.

“The best thing for me would be the thought of being able to walk properly again.”

Kirsten added: “I have found out that I have got the gene. With ataxia they are not sure when it will kick in. It could be this year or next or it could be 20 years down the line.

“It affects your speech, balance, walking, everything.”