“For My Dad, Geordie” – Airdrie woman to skydive in memory of her father

Ten years after losing her father, Fiona Drummond has completed a 10,000-foot skydive challenge in Auchterarder on 6 September to honour his memory. Fiona wanted to raise funds for MND Scotland, the charity that supported her family following his motor neuron disease (MND) diagnosis and raised over £1000 already.

Fiona, 55, was born and raised in Airdrie. She is a GP practice manager, a mother of two, and lives with her husband, John.

Following the MND diagnosis of her father, George, she has continued to support the charity to help other families affected by the disease.

George “Geordie” Gilmour, worked as a factory operative across Lanarkshire and Livingstone. He retired at the age of 60. Fiona describes her father as a proud, colourful character known for his love of racing pigeons, whisky, and making others laugh.

After experiencing symptoms, Geordie underwent various tests. He was diagnosed with MND at the age of 69.

Fiona said: “The symptoms were there, but it was always put down to something else. There were things he struggled with, like opening bottles, and he kept falling over. He then started slurring his words, but we thought the painkillers he was taking for a bad shoulder were too strong. It was a lot of different things.”

Geordie’s MND diagnosis progressed significantly: “He lost strength in his legs and arms.” Fiona said. “He needed a wheelchair to get around, and a hoist to get out of bed. He was eventually unable to hold a cup of coffee on his own and couldn’t feed himself.

“We moved his bed downstairs to make it easier for him, and he needed a wheelchair to get around. Carers visited a few times a day. My dad was very old school and not very technical. He had buttons on his iPad that he could press to let us know what he needed or wanted. His favourite three buttons were ‘coffee’, ‘food’, and ‘whiskey’!”

Fiona added: “To everyone’s surprise, he only had one hospital admission during his diagnosis, and this was due to a lung infection. It was just a few weeks before he died. We knew that he wanted to be at home.”

Geordie sadly died 18 months after his MND diagnosis. Fiona’s mum, Margaret, cared for him daily and stayed by his side until the end: “He never once complained about his situation. The MND nurses, district nurses, and carers were amazing. Every time they visited him at home, he was always grateful and thanked them”.

Fiona has supported MND Scotland for many years. She took part in 2015’s Great Scottish Run in her dad’s memory.

To support other people affected by MND, she travelled to Edinburgh with her husband, John, to donate their voices to SpeakUnique, a voice banking technology which allows people to communicate in their own voice when natural speech is not possible.

Fiona said: “Once my dad lost the ability to communicate, my husband and I decided that we wanted to help other families by donating our voices.” It’s a process which takes a couple of hours to complete. “It didn’t make sense at the time, as you think you are reading something that flows, but you are reading all different words and phrases to capture the different sounds, vowels and expressions in your voice.”

Fiona and her father also donated blood before he died to help with MND research: “They explained that they would be looking for a specific type of gene and comparing my blood to someone who had MND to look at the differences.”

Speaking about her knowledge of MND before her father’s diagnosis, she said: “I’d heard of one or two patients through the surgery having MND. When we were told that my dad had motor neuron disease, I asked my work colleagues what it was to help find out more about it.”

MND is a rapidly progressing terminal neurological illness, which stops signals from the brain reaching the muscles. This causes muscle weakness and wasting. MND can rob someone of the ability to walk, talk, swallow and breathe.

The average life expectancy of someone with MND is just 18 months from diagnosis. There is no cure or meaningful treatments.

MND Scotland is the only charity in Scotland dedicated to directly supporting people with MND, their families and friends.

Fiona decided to take her fundraising efforts to extreme new heights in support of MND Scotland: “Skydiving has always been on my bucket list. You watch people doing it on ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’, and I thought, ‘I would love to do that’! One night, after a few drinks, my husband called my bluff and put his bank card on the table. The next day, I booked it!”

Her youngest son, Jack, recently completed his own skydive challenge in Portugal: “He told me, ‘I’m not going to lie, Mum, I was terrified.’ I thought, right, I don’t want to know any more!”

Fiona’s skydive took place at Skydive Strathallan in Auchterarder on 6 September. Her family and friends all cheered her on.

MND Scotland would like to thank Fiona for taking part in this incredible challenge and helping raise vital funds and awareness for MND.

To support Fiona in her fundraising efforts by donating, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/fiona-drummond-4