A PROFESSIONAL Scottish golfer is urging members of the public to support the Doddie Aid campaign to fight against Motor Neuron Disease (MND) after losing her mother to the disease last year.
Tara Carrick, 30, who now lives in Gullane, East Lothian, lost her mother after a battle with the disease and has urged people to rally behind the cause, saying “people like my mum can’t die for nothing”.
MND is a degenerative disease. It impacts the brain and nerves, leading to muscle degeneration that severely affects speech, swallowing, and movement.
Scottish rugby legend Doddie Weir became one of the biggest MND campaigners before his eventual death to the disease, starting the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. The charity now fundraises to boost research and awareness of the disease.
READ MORE: Thousands of Scots lace up for Doddie Aid challenge in fundraising drive
The Doddie Aid challenge was set up by Weir’s former teammate, Rob Wainwright, and challenges people to get moving, logging their physical activity, and competing against each other while raising money for the charity.
Carrick explained: “This disease doesn’t just happen to one person, it happens to whole families. People often ask me what they can do to help – the first thing is to sign up for Doddie Aid. It gives meaning to those we have lost and honours those who have fought this disease, and takes us closer to a future where no family has to go through what we did.”
Carrick’s mother, Claire Mactaggart, died in 2025 after a difficult battle with the disease that saw her contracting pneumonia and struggling to swallow or breathe. Carrick described it as “the worst experience of [her] life,” seeing her “Queen Claire” suffer.
The disease took “one thing after another” from Mactaggart, with her speech, movement, and dexterity all severely impacted over time.
The first symptoms had appeared in January 2024, when Claire started to experience slurred speech, but Carrick initially assumed it may have been a stroke and “MND never crossed [her] mind.”
However, around six months later, Claire’s MND diagnosis came while Carrick was in Sweden competing in the LET Access tour, a professional golf tour for women and the official development path for golfers looking to compete in the Ladies European Tour.
Her family opted to wait until she returned home to tell her, but when she heard, she “knew instantly it was a death sentence".
"You never think it will happen to you – and then boom, life will never be the same again.”
READ MORE: Scottish athlete with MND aims for world-first at Winter Olympics
Her first thought was “That’s what Doddie’s had,” referring to the former Scotland captain who died in 2022 of the disease, and is now an ambassador for the foundation.
Carrick explained: “There has to be something positive and good from the suffering. If that’s raising money and awareness that takes us closer to a cure, or makes some difference, then that must be it.”
To take part in Doddie Aid, you can sign up via myname5doddie.co.uk and search Doddie Aid, or visit doddieaid.com.
Share