A Highland League legend battling MND hopes to take part in a “groundbreaking” clinical trial after more than £10,000 was raised in his honour to fund research.
Martin Johnston, from Kingswells, won three championship medals with Cove Rangers during his career and scored for Peterhead, Elgin City and Brechin City as a formidable striker.
At the weekend, the 42-year-old’s former teammates and league legends rallied to raise more than £10,000 to go towards treating the incurable, degenerative condition.
Mr Johnston, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2018, now hopes to secure a place on a pioneering drugs trial in Aberdeen.
The MND-Smart clinical trials have been taking place across the UK with the aim of finding treatments that can slow or stop the progression of the condition which attacks the brain and nerves, and causes muscles to waste away.
The trial was developed by people with the illness and specialists from the Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research at the University of Edinburgh, University College London and the University of Warwick.
Typical clinical trials focus on a single drug, where patients receiving the active drug are compared with those who receive an inactive substance known as the placebo.
However this trial will allow more than one treatment to be tested against a shared placebo group, so that patients have a higher likelihood of receiving an active treatment.
Researchers will also test drugs that are already used for other conditions to check whether they offer any benefit for people with MND.
Mr Johnston said: “It is going to be a fast-moving trial and a bit of a new approach to it.
“I have registered my interest in the trial and once the Aberdeen side of it starts up I hope to be getting involved.
“I’m keen to get involved as quickly as I can in this new one, and hopefully they can find some sort of treatment or cure in the future.”
The trial is being supported by the Euan MacDonald Centre, substantial private donations, MND Scotland and the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
The latter group, established by rugby legend Doddie Weir after his diagnosis with MND, was chosen as the beneficiary of efforts in honour of Mr Johnston and almost £12,000 has now been raised towards the cause.
Mr Johnston thanked the fundraisers who raced along Aberdeen beach in a 24-hour relay challenge over the weekend.
He added: “I was astounded by how many people wanted to take on this tough challenge.
“The money raised is vital in enabling these research projects to take place.”
People can still donate by visiting www.justgiving.com/fundraising/keith-robertson6
