A Brutal Disease: Motor Neuron Disease during the Pandemic

Manzoor G.K. Ishani makes a valuable contribution to enhancing a general understanding of Motor Neuron Disease and leads the reader gently through the trauma it engenders and the effect it can have on family and friends who become unwittingly involved in the sufferer’s care. A Brutal Disease strikes a fine balance between humour and pathos and demonstrates the importance of humour not only in  sustaining  the carer but also in the grieving process following the death of a loved one. It tells a unique story of resilience, fortitude, devotion and compassion, and of how a combination of motor neuron disease, Brexit and Covid conspired to render the medical profession helpless in a practical sense leaving the patient’s sole carer struggling to cope in circumstances where the nature of the disease and its symptoms were unpredictable. Manzoor Ishani describes how Marilyn, his loving wife of 53 years, struggled to manage the storm raging within her, and how she became dependent on him as he struggled to be her sole life support. After Marilyn’s death, and while still in the depths of his grieving, Manzoor booked a holiday as part of a cathartic process to help him recover from his trauma. It proved not to be what he expected.