How I found out.  Chapter 6: Huntington's Disease
 
Huntington’s Disease or Huntington’s Chorea is caused by a faulty gene or chromosome and there is no cure. This faulty gene leads to damage of the nerve cells, which leads to a gradual deterioration of body and mind. A person one of whose parents has Huntington’s Disease has a 50% chance of inheriting the faulty gene, and anyone who inherits the gene will at some stage develop the disease. Woody Guthrie, the well known song writer and folk singer, had Huntington’s Disease and died in a mental asylum. When Bobby’s mother was diagnosed with it, Bobby at the age of nine had to be put in a home because there was no one to look after her, and she died while Bobby was in the home. When Bobby was fifteen she left the home to find that her brother had also contacted the disease, and he died too.

It was then that Bobby realised that at any time in the future she could go the same way as her mother and brother, and what that must have felt like is hard to imagine. The disease usually shows its symptoms between the ages of 30 to 50 years, but it can be earlier or later. So from the age of fifteen she always lived with that fear of developing it. If I were in the same position, would I think it worth pursuing a career, for instance? probably not. Would I take needless risks? Quite possibly. I would certainly be frightened and depressed. But Bobby always showed great courage and never mentioned her fears. Then at the age of twenty-seven she was told that she had contracted it, which must have been terrible. The disease symptoms are uncontrollable body movements and depression. Also, aggressive and antisocial behaviour is said to be a symptom of the disease. Bobby always controlled her situation, but here was a situation out of her hands. But what she could do was to end her life when her brain started to be affected by the disease. In 1986 in St Charles Hospital where she was an outpatient, a report stated that Bobby’s concentration span was deteriorating. Bobby would have been aware of that, and although she is reported to have been communicative and relatively happy in the day centre, she also told them that she had decided to end her life. And that is what she did: Bobby took her own life on 19 March 1987.   London W11 in the 70s. 1
 
 
Contents               Bobby and I. 1              London W11 in the 70s. 1
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