{"id":87477,"date":"2025-05-09T13:38:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T13:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/87477\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T13:38:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T13:38:14","slug":"i-laughed-at-my-husbands-stupid-mistake-it-was-the-first-sign-of-devastating-motor-neurone-disease-that-hit-at-just-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/87477\/","title":{"rendered":"I laughed at my husband’s ‘stupid mistake’ – it was the first sign of devastating motor neurone disease that hit at just 32"},"content":{"rendered":"

A shocking video clip\u00a0has revealed the devastatingly subtle sign a young man had motor neurone disease aged just 32.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eric Brunner, from Philadelphia in the US,\u00a0was running up to three miles a day at the onset of his symptoms in 2020.<\/p>\n

But just months later the previously\u00a0healthy artist, now 38, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) \u2014 the most common form of motor neurone disease.<\/p>\n

The muscle wasting condition is incurable\u00a0and gradually stops patients being able to move, talk and even eat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ALS claimed the life of Sandra Bullock’s partner Bryan Randall in 2023 and the acclaimed scientist Stephen Hawking<\/a>\u00a0famously suffered from it.<\/p>\n

Now in a video shared<\/a>\u00a0by his wife Allie on Instagram, Eric is captured attempting a workout move unsuccessfully, failing to co-ordinate his arms and legs as they both laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taken weeks before his diagnosis, this loss of co-ordination was the first early sign he was suffering the condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the video, watched\u00a0more than 2.4million times, she said: ‘Laughing because I thought he was uncoordinated in this move, not because he was two months away from a terminal diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\"Eric <\/p>\n

Eric Brunner, from Philadelphia in the US, was running up to three miles a day at the onset of his symptoms in 2020. But just months later the previously healthy artist, now 38, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

‘This is what early stages of ALS looks like. His legs were spasming and his reflexes so overactive he couldn\u2019t correctly do this exercise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘ALS was not on our radar yet and Eric hadn\u2019t fully expressed just how worried he was about what was happening in his body.’<\/p>\n

In another video<\/a>\u2014watched 159,000 times\u2014posted earlier this month but also taken around the beginning of 2020, Allie is filming Eric struggling to hold a pair of weights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘He doesn’t know it yet but that weakness in his hands is his first symptom of a terminal disease with no cure,’ she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘It has been five years since this video, feels like yesterday and also a lifetime ago. What I wouldn\u2019t give to go back and not take a single thing for granted.<\/p>\n

‘I am passionate about educating others on the nuances of this disease and giving people an understanding of what it looks like, to the best of my ability.’<\/p>\n

ALS\u00a0is a rare condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Along with twitches, cramps and muscle weakness are among the early signs of the condition, along with slurred speech and weight loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In another video posted earlier this month but also taken around the beginning of 2020, Allie is filming Eric struggling to hold a pair of weights<\/p>\n

\"ALS <\/p>\n

ALS can lead to paralysis and eventually death. The acclaimed scientist Stephen Hawking famously suffered from it<\/p>\n

There is no cure but doctors can provide treatments to help reduce the impact it has on a person’s life.<\/p>\n

Eric was only diagnosed with the condition after seeking medical attention for the weakness in his hands and loss of co-ordination.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On his own Instagram account, Eric\u2014an accomplished painter who now\u00a0relies on a power wheelchair to get around\u2014shares images of the artworks he creates using\u00a0digital sculpting, eye tracking technology and 3D printing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In one post he said: ‘Some days are harder than others. Something like a chest cold, so simple for those unaffected, can really bring you down, remind you your physical strength is leaving you little by little.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Something like coughing up that stubborn tickle in your throat, so simple in theory yet growing increasingly harder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Seeing friends fighting this same fight not catching any breaks, just hit after hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Sometimes it feels like it can break you, but that\u2019s what strengthens my purpose to fight, for all of us facing ALS.’<\/p>\n

Around 5,000 adults in the UK have ALS and there is a one in 300 risk of developing the condition over the course of a person’s life.<\/p>\n

\"ALS <\/p>\n

ALS also claimed the life of Sandra Bullock’s partner Bryan Randall (pictured with Sandra in 2018) in 2023<\/p>\n

\"Leeds <\/p>\n

Leeds Rhinos star Rob Burrow (pictured) died last year at the age of just 41 after a four-and-a-half-year battle with MND\u00a0<\/p>\n

Life expectancy for about half of those with the condition is between just two and five years from the onset of symptoms. But these can worsen rapidly.<\/p>\n

Some people may live for up to 10 years, and, in rarer circumstances, even longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The exact cause is largely unknown, but current research points towards a complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and possibly lifestyle factors\u2014and it often hits seemingly fit and healthy people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, Leeds Rhinos star Rob Burrow, 41, died after a four-and-a-half-year battle with the condition.<\/p>\n

Locked-in syndrome (LIS) is a rare neurological disorder that can also occur in some progressive cases of ALS.\u00a0<\/p>\n