"GUINEA pig" patients from East Lancashire are behind the success of a new drug which brings longer and fuller lives to victims of devastating Motor Neurone Disease.
It is not a cure. But it is the first major breakthrough against this dreadful disease in 100 years.
As such, it offers not only relief for sufferers worldwide but, vitally, hope.
Medical advance is usually the result of years of painstaking research and international teamwork by scientists and doctors. But its strides against killer illnesses like MND cannot take place without the brave bit-players prepared to test new drugs.
It is those unseen pioneers in East Lancashire we salute today - and to whom future generations, freed from the curse of this disease, may have to give their thanks for helping to provide the pathway to an eventual cure.
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