By Gordon Davidson
Whilst coronavirus dominates the headlines, a retired rural vet is helping highlight another serious national health issue – Alzheimers – which is all the more pertinent as affected old folk and their carers in rural areas are coping with unprecedented isolation.
Alongside his distinguished veterinary career, Bob Muir was a respected Borders horseman, but now lives with the daily challenge of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, dearly wishing that he was still in the saddle or out calving cows.
But when Bob celebrated his recent 90th birthday, his son Gordon gave him an unusual gift – he had recorded a song for him, titled 'The Grey', loosely based on a quote from his father’s favourite ‘riders’ poet, Will H. Ogilvie, and made a video to match.
Initially, this project was intended as just a bit of fun for a family celebration, but it gradually turned into something much more poignant - a moving tribute that honours the ‘little wins’ in Bob’s daily battle with this cruel and debilitating condition.
The engineer who recorded the song – who had previously worked for Alzheimer Scotland – suggested that the video might also give comfort to other families in a similar situation, culminating in it now being part of a crowd-funding campaign on behalf of the Edinburgh-based charity.
The song has since been played on BBC Radio Scotland, and plans are now underway to make it available as a digital download, again with all proceeds going to Alzheimer Scotland.
Rachael McLean, lead locality fundraiser from Alzheimer Scotland, said: “With over 90,000 people living with dementia in this country, and a rising number of people receiving a diagnosis, we are honoured that Gordon has chosen to donate all proceeds from this very personal project to Alzheimer Scotland. All funds raised by Bob’s music video will help ensure that the charity can continue supporting people living with dementia, their carers and families, and aiding our mission that nobody should face dementia alone.”
Sarah Simpson, the senior vet at Bob’s old veterinary practice in Hawick, said: “I’ve known Bob as long as I can remember and was thrilled to work alongside him. He taught me all about being a country vet in mixed practice. This ranged from treating small ‘furries’ in the surgery, to being ferried to remote farms by tractor in the snow to calve a cow. Bob was always a positive and supporting mentor to me as a young vet, often saying, “It’ll be fine, you’ve done your best!”
Scottish Racing’s community engagement manager Eleanor Boden, said: ”This is a beautiful tribute to Bob Muir for his 90th Birthday and really highlights the importance of encouraging individuals who are living with a diagnosis to remain, as involved as possible, with the aspects of their lives that are important to their identity and well-being.
“The Scottish Racing partnership with William Hill in support of Alzheimer Scotland works to raise awareness and enable active engagement with the communities, especially in the Borders, where horses and horseracing are deeply embedded within the community which this video perfectly demonstrates.”
To support this fundraiser, go to www.gofundme.com/f/gofundmecomdad-still-flying-the-flag
For in-depth news and views on Scottish agriculture, see this Friday’s issue of The Scottish Farmer or visit www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here