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Neil: “Thanks to your support, I’m able to stay at home with my family after an MND diagnosis”

After almost three decades spent protecting others, retired firefighter Neil Adair is now facing his own toughest challenge: living with motor neurone disease. Thanks to a garage conversion, however, he’s been able to remain at home with his loved ones.

Neil and Katherine Adair have a long connection with Fire Fighters Charity, going back more than 30 years to when Neil first joined West Yorkshire FRS. Over the years they supported fundraising and even visited two of our centres for breaks away, giving them an early glimpse at the help available to fire service personnel and their families.

That support became far more personal, however, when Neil was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in February 2025, after noticing changes in his hands over a couple of years. It was a life‑changing moment for them both.

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“I’d started to notice my right hand was going slow when I was typing and I had some twitching in my arm,” Neil says. “Then I actually fell over a couple of times, which was a bit of a shock because I’d always been very good on my feet.”

Katherine adds: “Hearing the news, we just went into shock. Initially you’re really upset, your world’s fallen apart.”

Neil says the disbelief took time to process: “It’s still very upsetting to talk about now… There were people like Doddie Weir and Rob Burrow who we’d seen talking about it for years, raising that important awareness, but you never consider it’s something you’ll have yourself. Then suddenly you’ve got it.”

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Neil had always enjoyed an active lifestyle – from nearly 28 years in the fire service to walking, mountain biking and paragliding – so he’s found the adjustment particularly difficult. But in the months that followed, the couple focused on finding support and leaning on those around them.

“We’re fortunate we have family close by,” Katherine says. “Neil’s brothers come over every couple of weeks, and he still meets up with his former fire service colleagues regularly which is brilliant.”

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Remembering their earlier visits to our centres, they reached out to us and Neil was initially invited to Jubilee House for a week with our nursing and physiotherapy teams.

“It’s just brilliant, he’s actually been three times now,” Katherine says. “I was able to go with him last time and it was amazing. It was a break for both of us and there was as much or as little support as we needed.”

They were also put in touch with our Welfare team who explored options to help Neil stay at home safely – including converting their garage into a ground floor room.

A cluttered garage with exposed brick walls, various boxes, tools, a toy dollhouse, and scattered household items; sunlight streams in, illuminating the back wall and some objects on the floor.

Before the conversion

A garage with exposed brick and block walls is being renovated. Wooden floor joists are installed, with tools and materials resting on them. The ceiling shows exposed beams, and a fluorescent light hangs overhead.

During the conversion

“Fire Fighters Charity has been amazing. At first, we didn’t know where to turn. We spoke to a few others, including the council, before we heard about the welfare support available,” Katherine says.

“We knew a stair lift wasn’t going to work, and we needed a room downstairs for Neil. The wait times were looking huge and we didn’t know what to do, we were trying every avenue that we could.

A small bedroom with a single bed covered in yellow checkered bedding, a white nightstand with a lamp and toiletries, and a glimpse of a bathroom with a shower chair visible through an open door.

After the conversion

A clean, white bathroom with a toilet, a small sink, a shower curtain, soap dispenser, toilet paper, and a cup with toothbrushes on the sink. The overall space is simple and tidy.

After the conversion

“When Fire Fighters Charity told us it could help to fund the room conversion, it was just amazing. We’re so grateful for it.”

We applied for a grant from Lyme Green Trust, which supports people with severe disabilities who have served in the emergency services. They accepted our application and generously provided funds towards some of the conversion and specialist equipment for Neil.

Lyme Green Trust has since awarded us grants to help other service users and we are extremely grateful for their continued support.

“It’s just been amazing, we can’t thank them enough,” Neil says. “Knowing I can remain at home has made such a difference, to both of us.”

If you feel you’d benefit from our health and wellbeing support, you can call our Support Line on 0800 389 8820, make an enquiry online or click below:

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