An Arbroath man dying from a rare disease has thanked his community for rallying to his cause.
For months Keith Swankie has been raising awareness of the condition that is slowly stealing his life away progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).
From a Twitter campaign to attract the attention of First Minister Alex Salmond and Health Secretary Alex Neil, to sharing the increasingly popular YouTube video above about his plight, Keith has not stopped in his brave efforts to improve public knowledge about PSP.
He was diagnosed with the fatal condition two years ago and has gradually been losing mobility and his health since.
Symptoms of the disease include loss of balance, poor vision, slurred speech, hampered mobility and many others, along with a life expectancy of approximately seven years.
Members of Keith’s community have now pledged their support to his struggle and have organised a special fundraising fire-walk event for the PSP Association, to take place at Arbroath Cricket Club next month.
One of the men behind the event is spina bifida sufferer Robert Beattie, who has vowed to walk over the hot coals to help raise money.
Robert, who was diagnosed with spina bifida at birth, tried and unfortunately failed to organise a fundraising fire walk last summer to raise cash for the Spina Bifida Association.
He has now made a fresh bid at organising another, and will donate the money raised to the PSP Association after reading about Keith’s plight in The Courier.
Robert said: “I’m feeling fantastic about it actually happening this time. I had help organising it this time, which I think made it a bit easier.
“We have 40 people signed up, and Keith has said he’s happy for us to do it, so it looks as if it will go ahead. I am so happy that it has come together.”
Fellow organiser Christine Esslemont was touched after reading Keith’s story and decided to organise the event with Robert.
Christine said: “I’ve always wanted to do a fire walk and I knew someone that had organised one before, but it was in Inverness so I couldn’t attend.
“I did the Kilt Walk last year and decided I would do a fire walk next. After seeing Keith’s video and reading about PSP, I just thought it would be a good idea to do it for that. I know so much about it now and we have 40 people signed up for the walk. Most of it has been through word of mouth and family and friends, so it’s amazing.”
The event will take place on Friday April 25 at Arbroath Cricket Club and an information session will be held at 7pm.
Music will be played by drumming groups to build the atmosphere before the walk takes place at 9pm.
Mr Swankie thanked the community for its support and said he would be in attendance on the night.
“Jordan, my youngest daughter, is signed up for the walk as she is keen to do something after her sister did a sky dive last year,” said Keith.
“It’s brilliant that the community is rallying round and I can’t thank everyone enough for all the help and donations to the PSP Association it’s overwhelming.
“I also don’t want people to feel it is all about PSP, as there are so many other deserving cases out there, but I am really humbled by the ongoing support and can’t thank everyone in the town and surrounding areas enough for all the support and goodwill.”
Visit www.facebook.com/CharityFirewalkArbroath for more information.