My Name'5 DODDIE: The Autobiography

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October, 2023 | ZEROplus announce successful new fire testing for their entire Finprotect Plus range He touched our heartstrings to the end. His life and times were magic," - the final line of a poem read by Doddie Weir's three sons at his memorial service

Doddie Weir legacy will be to find a cure for MND - BBC News Doddie Weir legacy will be to find a cure for MND - BBC News

Former rugby player John Jeffrey told the gathering at Melrose Parish Church that Weir believed it was "not a matter of if, but a matter of when" there would be a cure for the neurological disease

It is different at night when he lies in the dark, unable to move. “I can’t even turn over in bed. It’s like an alarm going off in my toes and I have to tell Kathy to turn me over every two hours.” Knowing how much she does for him, and seeing how good they are together, I suggest to Doddie he must value Kathy more than ever. “Come on, spit it out,” she jokes to Doddie. Hundreds gathered at Melrose Parish Church and a much bigger audience at Melrose Rugby Club and watching online heard tributes from former team-mates and his family to a man of huge determination, warmth and fun. She said the service, which has just concluded at Melrose Parish Church, gave everyone attending a chance to pay their respects.

Doddie Weir books and biography | Waterstones Doddie Weir books and biography | Waterstones

We caught up with Doddie about the behind the scenes story of what this time has been like. Could you tell me a bit about your decision to release your latest book, Doddie’s Diary? They were together on the terrible Friday afternoon of 23 December 2016 when a specialist delivered the shattering diagnosis that Doddie had MND – and predicted that he would be unable to walk within a year. The former player, who had retired in 2004, defied that prognosis for over four years as he showed the galloping determination which, when he first played for Scotland, prompted the great commentator Bill McLaren to call him “a mad giraffe”.Your muscles in your legs disappear, you can’t walk, you can’t eat and then your muscles within your speech disappear, you can’t speak, you can’t swallow, you can’t breathe so it is horrific what happens and eventually you need help everywhere. Gavin Hastings (Scotland): “Consistently outstanding for both Scotland and the Lions. Helped me a lot when the game turned professional.” Going Home", the theme tune to film Local Hero, was played on the organ at the start of the celebration and fiddle music was played at the end Doddie Weir's sons are fittingly wearing tartan suits, a statement that was their father's trademark. And he said: “Anyone out there get involved in sport because you never realise you would need the family. You see the future and think come 60 odd I am going to be fine and that’s what I was doing. Then I woke up one day to find I have got MND so it changes your life. Spend your time dealing with today and worry about tomorrow when it comes.”

The World According to Doddie: An A-Z of Life and how to Live it

Rugby elder statesman Scott Hastings has been sharing his on social media as loved ones arrive for the service. Jonah Lomu (New Zealand): “He took the 1995 World Cup by storm. There were plenty of players who were six foot five and nearly nineteen stone, but none I knew who could run the 100m sprint in 11 seconds.” He said he had a family to care for whatever threw at him and this evolved into the setting up of his foundation. Carl Hogg said Weir gave everyone "magical memories" while Rob Wainright described him as one of the game's best-loved icons.The truth is that I cannot now wash, dress or visit the wee boys’ room without help,” revealed the Scot in an extract published by the Telegraph. Former rugby player Carl Hogg also paid tribute, saying that the 52-year-old "inspired fundraisers and agitated politicians" They know Doddie’s world is shrinking. “We went to Geneva about a month ago,” he says, “and a lot of my friends made a huge effort to get me there. But it was very stressful. I had to be carried on the plane and it’s too difficult now.”