Friends

Kim Wilde, patron of Ataxia UK

Our families moved to Tewin in Hertfordshire at the same time in July 1969. Ruth was seven and I was nine. I remember all of us running around, my brother Ricky and Ruth’s brother John. We made a happy group playing in each other’s gardens.

We soon noticed a change in Ruth as she became increasingly wobbly. She was diagnosed with the nervous disease affecting the muscles, Friedreich’s ataxia.

Some of the children at school were cruel to Ruth, and laughed at her as she tried to keep up with us all. It must have been extremely frustrating for her. By 16 Ruth was in a wheelchair but she never complained. As the years passed and her friends began to have boyfriends and eventually marry, she delighted in their children.

Ruth became increasingly interested in reading and writing. Her story ‘No Chair for Donna’ is a clever and funny reversal of disablement where the able bodied are deprived. It won a competition after which it was acted and turned into a video.

She wrote under extremely difficult conditions, storing her stories and poems in her head until someone could write them down for her. Gradually her eyesight and hearing failed, and she died eventually of cancer in 1998.Ruth never gave up on life, and appreciated that true beauty comes from inside. She was an inspiration to me and to everyone who knew her.

What Do You See When You See Chris

A pale, thin body, barely able to speak
Fragile limbs, useless muscles
A piteous, weak person sitting uncomfortably in a chair
But Chris, I know you so well.

Your humour and gentleness sometimes forgotten;
Although I know you now
You once were strong and capable
With a wife and job, your life was your own.
But then life was shattered as disability struck!

All we can give each other is love and compassion.
To the outside world it may not seem much;
But here in our own little world
Our dreams are fulfilled.

Ruth Shearman

Helpline: 0845 644 0606

Friends

Kim Wilde, patron of Ataxia UK