'I'm a Leeds dad with Parkinson's and I refuse to surrender to the disease'

A Leeds dad with Parkinson's who was told he would be in a wheelchair by 25 says "I too won't surrender" to the disease, afer Michael J Fox made an emotional vow at the Emmys.

John Granahan, 54, was diagnosed with Parkinson's at 20 after first noticing his symptoms when he was just 13.

More than 40 years later, John is still working and raising his 16-year-old daughter as a single dad.

But he says the past 12 to 14 months have been "horrid", with his condition making it increasingly difficult to walk and leaving him frightened to leave his home.

John has fallen repeatedly, including twice in one day recently, and was kept in hospital for three weeks after falling and being unable to get back up.

The IT technician, of Leeds, told Talk to the Press: "The last 12 to 14 months is horrid. I feel so isolated and struggling to get around.

"I am scared in my own home. Walking is so bad. You are terrified to go out but you are terrified to stay in."

John has a walker but has always resisted using a wheelchair, saying he wants to hold on to the small amount of independence he has left.

He said: "I have a tiny bit of independence left and I want that stubbornness.

"I want to keep up, it's not going to beat me. I won't surrender to it."

His comments come after Hollywood star Michael J Fox made an emotional speech last night at the Emmys, where he spoke about living with Parkinson's.

Fox, who was diagnosed with the condition aged 29 in 1991, said accepting Parkinson's did not mean he had to "surrender to it".

Accepting the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, he said: “I understood that accepting Parkinson’s didn’t mean I had to surrender to it. It just meant I had to do everything I could for everyone living with this disease."

John said he could relate to Fox and praised him for raising awareness of Parkinson's.

He said: "I was diagnosed before him and people didn't believe me when I said I had Parkinson's, and when he came out about it, people then said to me, 'Oh, that's what Michael J Fox has.'

"He's been the best ambassador for people with Parkinson's."

John's own diagnosis came after years of doctors blaming his shaking on caffeine.

He first noticed his leg shaking uncontrollably during an English lesson when he was 13, but was initially told he was drinking too much tea.

He was eventually diagnosed with Parkinson's at 20, with doctors later telling him he would be in a wheelchair by 25.

John said: "I told them, 'No I won't.'"

He says staying active and motivated is now more important than ever because surrendering to the condition would mean losing more of the independence he has fought to keep.

He said: "The thing is with it is not just external. The worst thing for Parkinson's is stress and the way you feel. It makes your condition worse.

"You have to be determined - your motorways are being cut off - you have to stay motivated and it's not easy."

"Even walking through a doorway can become a difficult task because I have to concentrate on how I will get through without falling.

"Imagine every time you go somewhere you are constantly looking at your environment.

"A normal person walks through a doorway but I am looking at the gap and how I get through without shuffling so much I fall."

Unexpected distractions can also cause him to lose his balance.

He said: "If someone shouts or a siren goes off because my attention has gone off of walking and I fall, it's really scary."

Despite the difficulties, John says he does not want sympathy and instead wants people to understand what life with Parkinson's is really like.

He said: "I'm not looking for sympathy. I just want people to know what it's like to have it.

"You are never relaxing and you're constantly aware of your surroundings."

John added: "I just find ways around things.

"Never give up, that's my motto."