‘Do You Take Milk?’: Leitrim MND nurse calls on public to put on the kettle to help those with the condition

The Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA) is inviting people from across Ireland to host a tea party this March as part of its annual ‘Drink Tea for MND’ campaign.

“I'll be honest, most often the conversations I have when I go out to somebody's home, they do start with, Do you take milk? “ says Charlene Crawford, an IMND Nurse in Leitrim.

“Everybody sits down over a cup of tea, and there is no problem that cannot be discussed.”

After 16 years of nursing at Letterkenny Hospital, Charlene took up this role as the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association’s nurse for Leitrim and across six other counties in the North-West.

Often referred to as the “thousand-day disease”, Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a progressive neurological condition that currently has no cure.

Charlene loves her job, though it can be challenging as she manages 63 patients across seven counties, supporting every person and their families struggling with the condition from Aran Mór to Longford.

“Of course it can be difficult, you are dealing with people at the most vulnerable stage of their lives, MND doesn't discriminate, it has no real age, it doesn't prejudice against people in their 30s to people in their 80s,” said Charlene.

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IMNDA nurses provide vital support to patients at home, helping them manage their condition, improve their quality of life, and provide psychological help for the person and their family.

“It is a privilege to be with people on that journey, to be at the start of the illness, and to be at the end,” she said. “The resilience that I've seen in people is phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal.”

“MND-ALS is a cruel disease; it takes so much so quickly, but what it cannot take is community, it cannot take compassion, and it cannot take the strength of people that stand united and support us,” said Charlene.

“Until there is a cure, there is care, and that is our motto from the IMNDA,” says Charlene. “I think that sums up pretty well what we're trying to do in the Drink Tea for MND campaign.”

“We help people with MND-ALS live well, and we need your support to continue this,” says Charlene.

She adds that support is needed all the way through the year. “MND will continue after March. We need the support of people, the kindness of the people in the community, to continue this after next year and the year after that.”

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The annual campaign is aimed at raising vital funds to support more than 470 families in Ireland currently living with Motor Neurone Disease, according to the IMNDA, an NGO that supports MND treatment across the country.

Events can be held around a kitchen table, at a school bake sale, an office tea break, or a community event. Those who wish to sign up at www.drinkteaformnd.ie and host an event, big or small, anytime during March or early April.