Island resident Peter Thornton – who suffers from a rare neurological disease – has handed over £2,000 to the charity that helped him cope with his diagnosis.
Last Wednesday (17th August), Peter, from the Isle of Wight, gave a cheque for £2,000 to Simon Bull, CEO of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease UK.
The CMTUK is a small charity based in Christchurch which provides support, advice and aid to sufferers of Charcot Marie Toothes Disease – a rare disease affecting a very small percentage of the population.
A neurological disease that can be present from birth or at any time during a person’s life, Peter began to have symptoms at around about the age of 46.
He first noticed it when he was a crew member of Bembridge Lifeboat and was finding that his ability to run to and from the boathouse was drastically getting slower and slower.
A member of the crew for 9 years, as a result of the disease Peter had to give up his lifeguarding duties and has now been on crutches for the best part of 15 years.
Peter belongs to the Freemasons Lodge in Ventnor and each year the Master collects and donates to the charity of their choice, when he himself was the Master – as a sufferer of CMT – Peter’s choice was a local CMT charity.
The money was collected from various events such as race nights, dances and raffles.
