My Name'5 DODDIE: The Autobiography

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Doddie Weir with fellow former international John Jeffrey before Scotland’s 2020 Six Nations match against England at Murrayfield. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

The World According to Doddie: An A-Z of Life and how to Live it

It is different at night when he lies in the dark, unable to move. “I can’t even turn over in bed. It’s like an alarm going off in my toes and I have to tell Kathy to turn me over every two hours.” MND was once not talked about. You can’t say that now. More action – especially in terms of the funding required to research this disease and possible cures – needs to be forthcoming. This book is another piece of the jigsaw so to speak, and hopefully a spotlight on what MND sufferers face and feel.

That it makes an extraordinarily good Christmas present, and one you’d want to keep, rather than share – so you really must buy more! I think it is about doing what you can today rather than putting it off until another time. That could be a useful mantra for life in general, not just because you have MND. But the more advanced this disease becomes, the more chance there is that someday, tomorrow, you might not be able to do the simplest of things. And, that means it’s gone, forever. Can you give Enable readers any insight into the stories included within the book? I wasn’t keen, but was eventually convinced that there were people wanting to know how I was getting on, and for a great many, looking for guidance having found themselves in a similar situation. Hence why the diary came around. While I’ve got a decent memory, there was so much happening that thankfully, Stewart (Weir, and thankfully no relation) had been noting the highs and lows, and I just had to join up the dots. What was the writing and editing process like with this book? Death might stalk him but Doddie suggests that “every day is a learning day. When I was playing rugby and in business [installing septic tanks] I always thought of it as a game of chess. You make a move forward to stay in front. I try and stay in front of MND every day.” Apart from striving to help others less fortunate than him, Doddie tries always to look forward. “It will be our 25th wedding anniversary on 18 July,” he says. “That’s something to celebrate.”

Doddie Weir fights back tears as Scotland rugby legend speaks Doddie Weir fights back tears as Scotland rugby legend speaks

Tony Stanger (Scotland):“Probably Scotland’s greatest ever finisher. He was key as we won the 1990 Grand Slam.” But he admits, “It’s a lot harder now. I’ve got a lot slower. I am totally dependent on other people doing everything for me.”

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That others have gone public with their diagnosis had brought our plight to a much greater audience. All we can hope for is that those in government buy in to our vision and our battle. What I would say is that where before you might be ignored, it is not that easy today because there are hundreds carrying on our fight for change. If people could take one thing from reading the book, what would it be? Last week Doddie and Kathy went to the 25th reunion of the Lions tour of South Africa. All the players’ wives and partners were included at the emotional gathering in Stratford-upon-Avon which meant Tom Smith’s widow, Zoe, was also there. Doddie had been close to Smith, the Scottish prop who was such a revelation in South Africa but died from colon cancer in April. “It was so sad Tom wasn’t there,” Kathy says, “but it was lovely to see Zoe. She’s amazing.”

Doddie Weir: ‘The government has not given motor neurone Doddie Weir: ‘The government has not given motor neurone

Alan Tait (Scotland): “He seemed to have the uncanny ability to always be in the right place at the right time. Then you realised that was because he was pushing opponents into areas where they had no space to work. He was also the tightest man in the world.”

For Kathy, “Doddie thinks a lot more than me. He’s always thinking about his next move and I just go along with it. We make jokes and laugh a lot. You’ve got to do that …” He is determined to keep living so that he can see each of his three sons, aged between 18 and 21, settle down with a steady girlfriend. Hamish, Angus and Ben are good-looking boys but none of them is currently in a relationship. Slightly apprehensive. I’ve never been the nervous type. But I still run through in my head if I’ve not mentioned something grand, or forgotten someone who has helped along the way. Sorry in advance, but others are probably to blame. I have a long list of them! Do you have any plans to write a fourth book?

Doddie Weir books and biography | Waterstones Doddie Weir books and biography | Waterstones

Doddie Weir says: ‘We went to Geneva about a month ago and it was very stressful. I had to be carried on the plane and it’s too difficult now.’ Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian Will there be a fourth book? The answer to that is no. Although as James Bond once said, never say never. It was the simplest insight he could offer into how it feels when you cannot scratch your nose and you cannot feed or wash yourself or go to the toilet without help. Even swallowing and talking become difficult. This frightening paralysis has robbed Weir of so much but his intelligence burns as brightly as ever. Doddie, who has just 38p left in his betting account, becomes more serious when explaining that he avoids discussing death. “I don’t talk about that because I’m trying not to go there.” Basically it is a muscle wasting disease and that’s how in the later life of MND it is horrific because you need help everywhere.Doddie Weir of Scotland on the charge for Scotland in victory over Wales at Murrayfield in the 1995 Five Nations. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images That’s why it is a big thing for campaigners - all three of us are involved in a very special group who need help. There is no cure. It is a terminal illness. He cannot turn his head in the kitchen on their farm near Galashiels, an hour from Edinburgh, to glance out of the window. But Doddie can feel the warmth of the Scottish sunshine on his skin. “I’ve been thinking how good it is today,” he says, “enjoying the lovely weather when many people with MND don’t have that luxury.” They were together on the terrible Friday afternoon of 23 December 2016 when a specialist delivered the shattering diagnosis that Doddie had MND – and predicted that he would be unable to walk within a year. The former player, who had retired in 2004, defied that prognosis for over four years as he showed the galloping determination which, when he first played for Scotland, prompted the great commentator Bill McLaren to call him “a mad giraffe”. Doddie Weir now sometimes uses Eyegaze software to help him communicate, which helps to give him independence at home. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian