UEA graduates plan cross-county bike ride in support of friend with motor neurone disease
By: Communications
On Saturday (21 October), a group of graduates will embark on a fundraising bike ride from Sudbury in Suffolk to the University of East Anglia, a journey of around 60 miles, in support of their friend with motor neurone disease - marking their 20-year friendship back where it all began.
In 2003, four strangers, Lucie Johnson (née Tims), Rosie Naylor (née Williams), Nat Martlew (née Davies) and Maz Neall, met for the first time at the University of East Anglia (UEA) with dreams of becoming occupational therapists. Despite two decades passing by, the friends have remained close, meeting up regularly and being there for the key milestones in each other’s lives, like marriages and the births of children.
Lucie said:
“Maz and I met on day one and lived together in Orwell Close in Norwich. We used to go to the laundrette late at night and do our washing! We all recall going to many an LCR event, and loving all the fancy dress nights, including traipsing down to a beach party night in flip flops in the snow!
“We were often some of the last at campus owing to our course, so enjoyed many hours in the library, the bar, and just hanging out. Most importantly, we all made lifelong friends.”
Graduation in 2006. L-R Lucie Johnson (née Tims), Rosie Naylor (née Williams), Nat Martlew (née Davies) Maz Neall
Since graduating in 2006, the graduates have gone on to work in Occupational Therapy everywhere from Norwich, London and Cardiff to Australia and Thailand. Occupational Therapy, also known as OT, is a science-based, health and social care profession that helps people of all ages, most commonly those living with mental health conditions, or physical or learning disabilities, overcome challenges completing everyday tasks or activities, giving people a renewed sense of purpose.
In July this year, Maz received a diagnosis of motor neurone disease (MND), a terminal condition which significantly impacts a person's physical abilities, often necessitating substantial adjustments in the home environment.
The group in 2023. L-R Laura Osborne (Nilly), Maz Neall, Nat Martlew, Rosie Naylor, Lucie Johnson
Lucie explains why they chose now to take on their cycling challenge, which will start in Suffolk and end on the UEA campus, back where their friendships began. She said:
“Maz's circumstances prompted us to do a fundraising event. Cycling back to UEA felt apt due to our twenty-year anniversary of starting our degrees and all meeting and becoming friends. We used to cycle into uni from Unthank Road, and all recall Maz's posh bike! Maz’s love of cycling, coupled with starting at UEA twenty years ago, felt like the right combination to mark the two things.
“We have all taken up cycling again since having children and have been training to build up our distance for this event.”
MND is a rare degenerative disorder that affects the brain and nerves with three increasingly severe stages of symptoms that can include weakness in the arms and legs, loss of muscle tone, breathing difficulties, and paralysis. Although most common in those in their 60s and 70s, one study in the British Medical Journal stated that in their clinic, while the age range of people with MND was 17-97, less than 10% of that total was from patients under 45.
One of Maz’s primary wishes is to retain her independence at home for as long as she can, and while certain domestic adaptations are available through social services, the money raised from this challenge will allow for changes above and beyond those, helping Maz, her husband Craig, and their two young children, aged three years and six months, to live together as comfortably, safely and normally as possible, for as long as possible.
The group aim to raise £4,000 and their challenge can be supported through the JustGiving platform.