HE has campaigned tirelessly for charity despite living under the “death sentence” of a Motor Neurone Disease (MND) diagnosis.
Former Scotland rugby international Doddie Weir has been a vocal advocate for more research into the condition and has raised thousands of pounds to help others living with the disease.
Now the famous sportsman is to receive the Helen Rollason Award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2019 in recognition of the campaign he continues to spearhead almost four years after he was told he would likely die from MND.
The award recognises outstanding achievement in the face of adversity and was introduced to the show in 1999 in memory of BBC Sport journalist and presenter Helen Rollason MBE, who lost her battle with cancer during that year, aged 43.
Previous winners of the award include Hillsborough disaster campaigner Anne Williams, charity marathon runner Ben Smith, Bradley Lowery and last year’s winner Billy Monger.
The foundation has raised more than £4million
In 2016, Doddie was told he would be in a wheelchair within a year after learning he was suffering from MND, setting him of on his quest to raise awareness of the disease.
READ MORE: Doddie Weir to receive OBE at royal investiture
MND is a complex condition which affects people differently and progresses at different rates. Weir has said that he is living with "slow, progressive" MND ,and that he had already lived longer than the average survival rate for sufferers, which is three years.
After receiving the life-changing diagnosis, he set up the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation which has committed more than four million pounds for research into the disease.
The Foundation has also given almost £1million to families living with the condition, to help them live as full a life as possible. Earlier this year he received an OBE for his services to rugby, motor neuron disease (MND) research and the Borders community.
The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation was established in response to Doddie’s frustration at the lack of options given to MND sufferers.
With this as his driving force, Doddie and his foundation regularly engages with leading neuroscientists, professors and medical researchers to better understand MND and work towards finding a cure.
He has previously spoken of his frustration with efforts to develop a cure or new medicine to combat the progress of MND through the body, saying that it has been 25 years since a new drug was released.
Doddie Weir and family after he received his OBE
Weir said: "When you've got told you have got MND, that's your death sentence because there's nothing out there to help and give you a chance.
"There's not even any pathways. When you're told you've got MND, you go home and you go and Google on the computer of how to try and rectify your issue on how to stay alive.
"It's a bit like you've got a broken arm and you're sent home to fix it yourself but with MND it's a much more serious condition because it's a terminal condition. No-one's actually beaten MND to date, and that's my annoyance that the powers that be have done nothing over the last 25 years plus to bring any extra sort of drugs or help to the table."
He added: "So there is no platform or pathway that helps.Every patient has to look at their self cure."
READ MORE: Doddie Weir - You Google how to stay alive
During his playing career, the Edinburgh-born 48-year-old represented the British and Irish Lions on their successful tour to South Africa in 1997 and earned an incredible 61 caps for Scotland. A hugely talented lock forward, he retired from the game in 2004.
As a warm up for BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the documentary Doddie Weir: One More Try will air on BBC One today at 1.15pm.
The one hour special follows Doddie as he and his family comes to terms with his diagnosis and includes the moment he received his OBE from the Queen.
The sportsman said: “I am honoured and humbled to receive the Helen Rollason award at this year’s Sports Personality of the Year, especially when I look back at the remarkable individuals who have been recognised over the years.
"My family and I are very much looking forward to attending the awards evening and celebrating another fantastic sporting year with friends and many of our sporting heroes.”
READ MORE: Doddie Weir reveals he was hospitalised after 'puncturing lung'
Director of BBC Sport, Barbara Slater added: “Doddie is an incredible recipient of this year’s Helen Rollason award. To come to terms with his own life changing diagnosis and channel his energy into raising over four million pounds to research the condition and a possible cure is nothing short of extraordinary.”
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