A CRUEL disease has devastated the lives of a Reedley family. PAULINE HAWKINS finds out how Paul Watson, who has always had an understanding of machines, is using new technology to occupy his mind while his body wastes away.

MOTOR Neurone Disease is so rare that most GPs will never diagnose a case in their entire career, and those who do may see it only once.

Although it is uncommon compared to cancer and heart disease, it is relentless and incurable. Most sufferers die within two to five years of diagnosis.

Some people, on hearing the news, might be tempted to hide away and wait for the inevitable. But not so Paul and Marna Watson, of Roundwood Avenue, Reedley.

Paul, 55, struck down two years ago by the same disease which killed dashing British actor David Niven on July 29, 1983 and affects Professor Stephen Hawking, is barely able to speak but keeps in touch with family and friends using a computer, operated by a disc around his neck.

A device called an environmental control, recommended by his occupational therapist, allows him to do all manner of things to improve his quality of life.

The computerised device, again operated by the disc around his neck which he presses with his chin, allows him to adjust the heating, the position of his chair -- in which he has slept for the past year -- and turn the television and lighting on and off. The cause of Motor Neurone Disease is still unknown although about 10 per cent of cases are thought to be hereditary. It affects the motor neurones which send messages from the brain to the muscles and the most cruel part of it is that it while it progressively paralyses the body, the brain and senses remain intact.

Marna, who searched for support after Paul's diagnosis but found little help was available, set up the Central and East Lancashire Motor Neurone Disease Support Group which held its latest meeting in Chorley on Tuesday. The next meeting is a 'working lunch' on Tuesday at the Calf's Head, Worston, from noon and anyone interested is welcome to turn up. Paul's illness struck completely out of the blue and devastated the family. He was diagnosed with MND in April, 1999, three years after taking early retirement as a mathematics and information technology teacher at Walton High School, Nelson. By then he had set up his own business introducing computer systems to small businesses. He went to the doctor complaining of numbness and tingling in his thumb and said he had difficulty fastening buttons and holding pens.

At first the doctor thought it was arthritis, but Marna persuaded Paul to go to an osteopath and as a result he was quickly referred to a specialist at the Royal Preston Hospital. Paul suspected there might be something seriously wrong and, after MND was diagnosed, printed pages of information about the disease from the internet.

In the autumn, a few months after diagnosis, he was rushed into intensive care and his arms and legs gave way. Marna said: "It has just been slowly downhill ever since. It is a very silent disease. We have found quite often that people do not get diagnosed until very late, because GPs are exploring other areas.

"Professionals do not speak to you on a practical level at all and that can be very difficult, which is another reason why we wanted a support group." She discovered things were happening to Paul that neither of them was prepared for. "One day Paul suddenly started this terrible wailing noise. It was quite scary and I couldn't calm him down. In those days we saw a specialist who said this was one of the effects of the disease," she said. The couple, who should have been making plans for holidays and retirement treats, were faced with a raft of problems to tackle.

Marna said: "We had to move house, and that wiped out most of our savings. Our elder son is engaged to be married, but Paul would not be able to go to the wedding and they don't want to get married knowing he is sitting here. Our younger son has stayed at home to help because when we moved here we needed help with plumbing and decorating and he built a ramp.

"But he is wary of taking a job which would mean him having to move away from home."

Marna, who works for one-and-a-half days a week at Nelson and Colne College, is grateful for all the financial support given to help set up the support group and for the concern that people, including ex-pupils at Paul's school, have shown.

"You never know how long you have got, so every day is a bonus.

"But we have had lots of support and very good carers and people who come and sit with Paul so he doesn't just have to listen to me," she said.

* The Motor Neurone Disease Association has a helpline -- 08457 626262 -- which is manned seven days a week.

There is a website at www.mndassociation.org and anyone who would like to make a donation can contact Mrs Watson on 01282 699685 or the association at PO Box 246, Northampton NN1 2PR.