THURSDAY, September 18, 2008, is a day which will remain firmly etched in Jacky Smith’s memory for the rest of her life.

It was on this day her consultant told her she was suffering from the progressive, degenerative illness motor neurone disease.

Since that day Mrs Smith has struggled to come to terms with her prognosis but is being supported along the difficult path by volunteers and nurses at St Richard’s Hospice.

“I did not believe what the doctor told me,” Mrs Smith said. “I thought ‘I am only 42 and I have been fit all my life.’ “I did not feel that ill and I still do not believe it. That day is etched in my brain for evermore.”

Mrs Smith, a police inspector from Droitwich, first started to notice something was wrong in April last year. She felt tired all the time and was suffering from foot drop.

Towards the end of the day her voice would start to go and when she tried the police fitness test Mrs Smith failed it for the first time in her 26-year police career.

“Then I knew something was wrong,” she said. “I was getting progressively weaker and I did not understand why I was losing weight.”

After numerous tests Mrs Smith was finally given her diagnosis.

The next day she stopped working and seven months on she is confined to a bed in the living room of her house and uses a specially designed wheelchair to get around.

Motor neurone disease (MND) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which attacks the upper and lower motor neurones – pathways that control muscles.

This leads to weakness and wasting of muscles, causing increasing loss of mobility in the limbs and difficulties with speech, swallowing and breathing. After her diagnosis, Mrs Smith was visited by Jeannie Young, founder of St Richard’s Hospice, who now cooks her lunch once a week.

She also attends the day hospice in Wildwood Drive, Worcester, and despite her initial reservations Mrs Smith now enjoys her visits.

“I was not keen at first as I did not feel I had MND – so why would I want to go to a hospice?” she said.

“It has taken me a little while to settle there.

“I needed to mentally accept it.

Now I feel safe there and secure.”

Attending the hospice has also put Mrs Smith in contact with other MND sufferers.

“We can talk about our problems and it makes you feel like you are not alone,” she said.

“It is nice to ask somebody who has already walked the path.”

This year St Richard’s needs £4.8 million to provide free services to 1,800 patients and families suffering from cancer and other terminal illnesses.

For more information, visit strichards.org.uk, or to donate visit justgiving.com/wn4 strichards.