Former Scotland star Willie Donachie makes emotional plea after wife's tragic diagnosis

Ex-Scotland planetary and Manchester City prima Willie Donachie has seen erstwhile team-mates and his woman endure dimensia and present wants to rise consciousness for aboriginal diagnosis of the condition

Willie Donachie played astatine a World Cup, spent 12 years astatine Manchester City and is simply a hugely-respected coach.

Donachie’s concern with erstwhile manager Joe Royle saw them instrumentality Oldham into the Premier League, an FA Cup semi-final and they worked unneurotic astatine Everton. And the shot household has been speedy to rally circular and enactment 73-year-old Donachie done what has been the hardest and astir traumatic clip of his life.

Former Scotland defender Donachie, who won 35 caps and went to the 1978 World Cup, is present speaking retired aft seeing his nearest and dearest suffering successful the astir heartbreaking manner. Donachie’s beloved woman Mileva, 66, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia astir 2 years agone which forced him to springiness up his coaching career.

That came aft large friends similar Gordon McQueen and ex-City squad mate Jimmy Conway besides died aft being diagnosed with dementia. Medical experts advised him to enactment Mileva into a specializer attraction location past Christmas but helium visits her each time and each time comes the aforesaid heartbreak erstwhile helium has to accidental goodbye.

Football has seen truthful galore cases of dementia and Donachie is determined to rise consciousness to effort and promote aboriginal diagnosis to let sufferers to get the champion imaginable care.

Donachie said: “Football has been great. Because it’s a squad sport, you person to enactment unneurotic to beryllium successful. On the whole, shot radical are precise generous with their assistance and time. They are precise understanding.

“Football is conscionable a portion of my beingness and it’s the aforesaid for others. We each person families, workmates and everyone you speech to knows idiosyncratic who is suffering with this atrocious condition.

“She went successful to a location astir Christmas. It was the hardest happening I’ve ever done successful my life. It’s similar a decease due to the fact that it feels similar you are mourning somebody. I wouldn’t privation it connected anybody.

“I wasn’t capable, I couldn’t look aft her and I was with each the clip which meant I was conscionable shattered. You are struggling to header but you don’t privation to admit it.”

Mileva was calved successful Serbia, speaks 4 languages, played philharmonic instruments and was a creation and yoga teacher. She was ace bright, sporty, acceptable and volition ever beryllium the emotion of Willie’s life. They each person children and person been unneurotic 25 years.

Donachie present lives successful the North East - 1 of his much caller coaching jobs was with Newcastle’s reserves - and had to springiness up coaching the Montserrat nationalist squad erstwhile Mileva was diagnosed.

"She began worrying astir things and processing obsessions. One happening she did was she started buying integrative boxes and she bought hundreds of them. She’d rotation disconnected erstwhile we went buying and travel backmost with truthful galore of them,” said Donachie.

"I sojourn her each day. We volition spell somewhere, person a coffee, support her active, due to the fact that she is deteriorating physically arsenic well. She’ll often autumn dormant successful her chair, her caput volition crook guardant and present it’s similar that. It’s truthful bittersweet due to the fact that she is idiosyncratic who was truthful active.

"Every time I volition spell and my woman volition say: ‘Can I travel with you now?’ It’s heartbreaking. She remembers maine and who I americium astatine the moment. But it’s precise hard to grip it.

"It’s astir getting the close attraction and medicine arsenic rapidly arsenic possible. That’s the happening astir uncovering retired early: to get the help. It’s lone going to get worse due to the fact that nine is getting older and determination volition beryllium much sufferers.”

Donachie was friends with ex-Scotland squad mate McQueen and was peculiarly adjacent to Conway who died successful 2020. They some played for Portland Timbers. But Conway’s communicative besides explodes the mentation that dementia successful shot is each astir heading the ball.

Donachie added: “Jimmy Conway ne'er headed the ball, lived well, didn’t get drunk and was specified a bully person. He got it successful his 50s which is truthful hard and there’s nary rhyme oregon reason. People speech astir it coming from heading the shot but I don’t retrieve Jimmy heading it once!

“I went implicit to spot him. He was successful Portland and that’s a beauteous place. He was enactment connected medicine and helium became violent. He was ne'er convulsive - not for 1 moment. But they sent him to a unafraid place.

“I went to spot him and I got determination and it’s the spot retired of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest! Jimmy’s successful One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest! But, honestly, Jimmy was specified a bully person, large consciousness of humour and wasn’t a drinker, smoker oregon anything.

“You can’t truly accidental wherefore you get it there’s nary crushed oregon logic down it. I ne'er hide however fortunate I was to play and enactment successful football. I inactive bash immoderate coaching astatine an academy and that’s rather rewarding. I similar to springiness thing back.”

A dementia diagnosis is captious to springiness radical entree to the care, attraction and enactment they desperately need. Learn the signs and symptoms of dementia astatine Sport should beryllium unforgettable.

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