2026-08-30 09:30:21

Lewis Moody is convinced that a cure can be found for motor neurone disease (MND).

The former England rugby player revealed that he had been diagnosed with the condition – which damages nerves in the brain and spinal cord and leads to muscles wasting away – last year but is adamant that the disease can be cured with increased funding.

Moody, 48, told The Telegraph: “I don’t need to say it, but I will. Motor neurone disease is a difficult thing to be diagnosed with, but even more so when you find out very little can be done.

“There’s a huge amount of people doing great research, putting a huge amount of time and effort in, but what’s needed is more awareness, more funding.

“People often say MND isn’t curable, but it isn’t incurable, it’s just underfunded. My energy is being placed into this space to try and generate as much financial support and awareness as possible to try and make a difference.”

Moody, who played in England’s victorious World Cup team in 2003, admits that MND can be challenging to cope with from a mental perspective as his body is in decline physically – even though he doesn’t feel “unwell”.

The former Leicester Tigers flanker said: “I’m well. It’s a weird disease, the specialists tell you you’ll never feel ill. I don’t feel unwell, I’m likely to never feel unwell.

“It’s hard to watch the slow decline of your physical state. That is a daily battle, mentally. But what you see is what you get.

“I choose not to linger in the sad spaces for too long. There is sadness, of course, but I choose to stay positive, to enjoy the time I have, my wife’s here, my kids are good. Until that changes, we’ll learn and adapt.”

Moody believes that his sporting career means he is better-prepared for the “obstacles” posed to him by MND than those from other walks of life.

He explained: “I said to someone earlier, sport more than anything else prepares you for challenges like this. You’re given loads of different obstacles, nothing that relates to a diagnosis like this, but mentally you’re given the opportunity to overcome obstacles weekly, daily.

“For me, it was just another thing to figure out how to handle… ‘overcome’ is probably the wrong word, but to deal with.

“I’m doing it in that way, I’ve changed my mindset to what I can do rather than what I can’t do. So long as I stay in that positive space, I remain positive.”

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