There are not too many people who struggle to walk more than ten paces, who have lost the use of both their arms, who are almost completely reliant upon a carer, and yet still tell you they are one of the lucky ones.

However, more than ten years after he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Roland Lewis is adamant he is one of the fortunate few.

Roland, a former computer analyst, was an active person who enjoyed sport when he was diagnosed with the debilitating disease just over a decade ago.

“I was playing badminton,” Roland said, “I am right handed and my right shoulder felt like it had pulled a muscle in it.

“I went to see a physiotherapist and had some treatment and he then said to me 'I think there is something wrong with your shoulder, I think you should go to see your doctor'.”

He was not, however, diagnosed with the fatal disease until some 12 months later.

“There is no test to show MND,” Jennifer, Roland's wife and full-time carer, said, “so what they have to do is test you for every other problem it might possibly be.

“So in our case, they would do a test and then we would go back about three months later and then you have another test.

“In the end they said it is not that, it is not that, so it must be MND.”

Motor Neurone Disease affects just 5,000 people in the UK at any one time. However, as Jennifer points out, the disease has a high “turn-over” rate.

At least five people die of the crippling disease every day in the UK, with most people passing away within just 14 months of diagnosis.

MND attacks the body's motor neurones and often, but not always, leaves those affected unable to walk, talk or feed themselves.

The effects of the disease, however, vary enormously from person to person.

Most people eventually lose control of the arms and leg muscles, while the worst form of MND leaves people unable to eat or swallow.

Roland was able to work and drive for the first four or five years of his illness. Two years ago he even managed to climb a mountain in Wales.

Roland now struggles to walk, but maintains he, unlike many, still has a happy future to look forward to.

“I do find it distressing when I meet a new person with MND if they start having trouble speaking,” he says.

“I might have four or five years, it might be less it might be more, but I have still got a future.

“I can understand why some people might not want to acknowledge they have MND.”

Roland and Jennifer say part of the problem facing people with the disease is that very little is known about it.

There is no cure for the disease and experts do not know what causes. Indeed, the average GP will see just one person with MND in their whole professional career.

This year, however, will see the 30th anniversary of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, an organisation that offers support and raises money for people living with MND.

The group holds regular meetings at The Thistle Hotel, in Chiswell Green, thanks to the free hospitality the hotel puts on, and will celebrate the landmark anniversary with a remembrance evening next month.

Both Jennifer and Roland are members of the local branch in south Hertfordshire and say the group is invaluable to people who are diagnosed with MND.

Jennifer said: “Thirty years ago people got together and organised the Association because there was no help from anybody.

“Neurologists don't really know what to do, your GP certainly doesn't know what to do so we have been trying to get GPs to recommend people come to the Association straight away.”

She added: “The important thing is the association is aware how quickly the illness progresses.

“So if somebody needs a wheelchair in the next three weeks then, with a bit of luck, we might be able to do something about it.”

For more information at Motor Neurone Disease visit www.mndassociation.org.

The local branch of the Association will hold a memorial service at the Future Gardens, in St Albans, on Sunday ,September 27, at 7.30pm.