17 October
Newbury. Hosted by Reading and West Berkshire MND branch (further details to come)
Fighting For Life
‘Fighting For Life’ has been written by professional playwright Brian Daniels. The play is inspired by the true story of one family’s struggle to get the care that both their elderly parents needed as they faced serious health challenges. These struggles along with recommendations about how things could have been much better handled are documented in The Findlay Report written and produced by the Findlay family.
The report has been distributed and used by others as an education tool for over 13 years and much of what it contains is still relevant today. ‘Fighting For Life’ adds more to the story by letting audiences peek into and gain some understanding of the lives, heartaches and good times experienced by the two main characters, ‘Jim’ and ‘Joan.’ It shows that they were more than just a couple of older people or a case of dementia (Joan) or Motor Neurone Disease (Jim) to those that knew and loved them especially their family. Their adult children and other family members fought their way through a sometimes chaotic and disjointed health and social care system in order to get them the care they needed towards the end of their lives. It was a tough fight.
The play was premiered in January 2018 at the Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead, London with more performances to be hosted by a variety of organisations over the coming months. Venues so far include hospices, hospitals, community theatres and universities. Dates and locations of performances are shown on this page.
The play puts forward a story in a way that provides a unique environment for education and training purposes and for raising awareness of the issues especially in relation to older people. Each performance is followed by a panel discussion including a Q&A with the audience and is an integral part of the event.