Mrs McGhie, of Hughes, was one of hundreds of people who took part in the Walk to d-Feet MND around Lake Burley Griffin yesterday.

Some participants walked the bridge-to-bridge circuit. Others cycled. Others still were in wheelchairs or on motorised scooters. All were there to take part in a fund-raiser to support people with MND.

MND is a group of diseases which damage nerve cells that control the movement of muscles that fall within conscious control. These include the muscles in the torso and limbs and those associated with speech, swallowing and breathing.

With no nerves to activate them, the muscles gradually weaken and waste, and paralysis ensues.

Mrs McGhie's 58-year-old father, Michael Ridley, of Caragabal, in the central west of NSW, was diagnosed with MND 3 years ago.

Mr Ridley can no longer do anything for himself. He has no control over any of his bodily functions and has essentially lost his ability to communicate through speech. He was pushed around Lake Burley Griffin in a wheelchair by his son Hamish yesterday. Mrs McGhie said there wasn't much awareness in the general community about MND.

''A lot of people you speak to I don't even think know what motor neurone is,'' she said.

''I find myself it's not something that people really want to know about. It's not pretty, it's not nice. It's quite devastating.

''A lot of people find it very confronting.

''So I think it's really important that more people know about it.''

For more on this story, see the print edition of today's Canberra Times.