Andy defies odds with ‘hero gene’
Diagnosed in 1976 with motor neuron disease, the future looked grim. In fact, it barely existed at all. The expert prognosis was that he might live, severely disabled, for between two and five years.
“I survived, much to the amazement of my neurologists,” says Andy, attributing his longevity to inheriting a steely strength from his parents who struggled to raise a family in the poverty-stricken 1930s, 40s, and 50s.
