'My husband did the unthinkable after being given just two years to live'

Dublin Live

13-05-2025

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GP Susie Tate, 46, and her husband Andy, 47, have been happily married for 25 years. However, they were thrown a medical curveball when Andy began showing signs of Motor Neurone Disease in 2019, receiving an official diagnosis two years later.
The couple, based in Dorset, UK, are parents to three sons - Charlie, 15, Sam, 13 and Jack, 12. Despite the average life expectancy of two years post-diagnosis, Susie revealed that Andy is not just surviving but thriving four years on from his initial symptoms, reports the Mirror.
"Andy has always been very, very active." she said. "He loves rugby, tennis, golf and windsurfing but in a cruel twist, MND tends to target people who are more active. Studies have shown that people who are really active are disproportionately affected. MND gradually strips you of everything. One by one he had to gradually stop all the sports that he enjoyed."
Motor Neurone Disease is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It can leave people locked in a failing body unable to move, talk and eventually breathe.
It kills six people every day in the UK, a third within 12 months of diagnosis and more than half within two years. There is currently no cure. However, in a remarkable turn of events, Andy took part in the Rob Burrows marathon yesterday [May 11] in Leeds with 30 friends and family. They aim to raise funds and awareness for the MyName5 Doddie foundation.
Susie has shared the bittersweet journey of her husband who's remarkably kept on his feet despite losing much of his upper body strength due to Motor Neurone Disease. She said: "His arms have become weaker, but his legs are still strong. I'm a very proud wife."
Explaining the severity of the situation, Susie said: "He's diagnosed with the ALS type, which is the most common, but also the fastest progressing, worst type. It's really been mostly his arms, shoulders and hands that have been affected. We were lucky in one way. The average life expectancy is actually two years after diagnosis, yet here we are."
Despite dealing with considerable fatigue, Andy doesn't let his condition stop him from engaging actively in life, coaching his son's rugby team and even challenging himself to a remarkable feat as recently as last year.
"He played with his rugby team, the Sandbaggers, as they tried for the longest ever game of touch rugby on the beach at Bournemouth," said Susie. "He managed the 34 hours with a squad of 22 - he did that! It helped support the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) and the MyName5 Doddie foundation."
The initial hints that something was wrong actually came about in a humorous way, with a defeat in an arm wrestle that caught them off guard. However, this is a memory they look back on with a sense of humour amidst adversity.
"He lost an arm wrestle that he believed he shouldn't have lost," said Susie. "He said to me, 'listen, I'm at the pub, I lost an arm wrestle to James and I should not have lost.'".
Andy, a seasoned medical professional, couldn't shake off the feeling that his foot mishap during a hike was a sign of something more serious, and tragically, he was spot on. Susie said: "He started having fasciculations - muscle twitches - widespread through his arms and his shoulders, they're now quite obvious.
"He always knew something terrible was going on. I very much stuck to the belief that he would be fine, but he knew."
Susie recalled the dread she felt as a medical school student learning about various conditions, admitting: "We learn about some scary conditions at medical school, and if I'm honest, motor neurone disease is the most scary. You're gradually stripped of your ability to move and breathe. It's terrifying."
The turning point came with a nerve conduction assessment known as an EMG, after which Susie grimly acknowledged that Andy's nerves were malfunctioning. Bloodwork would later confirm their greatest fear.
"There's not a specific test that's 100%. It's a process of elimination and ensuring we aren't confusing the symptoms with something else and falsely diagnosing."
Reflecting on her career that spans two decades, Susie shared details of their professional journey together, including their time in London, Australia's accident and emergency wards, and years spent in Swansea before settling on Dorset's sunshine coast surrounded by a tight-knit medical community.
Despite the pandemic, the couple remained incredibly active. Susie managed a hot clinic while Andy was engaged with his anaesthetics consulting in intensive care at Bournemouth Hospital, but he noticed his hands and arms weakening. Initially believing it to be an elbow nerve issue, he even underwent surgery in 2020 to rectify it.
"We persevered through COVID but by May 2021 he received an official diagnosis," said Susie. "He had to quit work - he had a tremor, and he realised that he was struggling to handle the airway equipment. It was truly heartbreaking because he adored his job.
"I was devastated. We're lucky to have a group of friends down here in Dorset and we've got a really great family so we had a lot of support around us, but we were completely and utterly devastated by it."
The devoted parents faced another challenge, they had to inform their children about their dad's condition.
"Initially, you want to protect your kids from it but it's not beneficial to do that. They don't understand why you're constantly crying and they think it might be their fault. It's really harmful to do that.
"For weeks we didn't tell them, but then the head at their school advised us to be more transparent, and it certainly helped. They love their dad, they want to support him and they're great boys. You don't realise how resilient they can be. They have a lot more to deal with than their friends."
Susie, who took a year off from her role as a partner at a GP firm to spend time with her husband Andy and their sons, has turned her focus to romance writing. She released her third book, Outlier, this summer and has become a number one bestselling Amazon author. Her medical background informs her writing, addressing issues like loneliness and domestic violence in her characters.
"I started writing about 10 years ago but it was just a side hustle. A way to de-stress. Suddenly I had a big organic following and eventually it allowed me this precious time with Andy. Things have really taken off and I can be at home, supporting my family.
"I'm so grateful to the readers for supporting me and giving me time with my family. I could not have done that without the readers. They're a lovely supportive element in my life."
While she may return to her GP practice in the future, Susie acknowledges the current challenges of the profession.
"I love being a GP but the world has changed so much in recent years. It's always been a very high workload. It's very stressful. It's like you're swimming upstream the whole time. I've known my patients for years and really care about them."
As she supports her husband and spends time with their sons and cross Maltese dog, Gizzy, Susie anticipates that they might need additional caring support for Andy in the future, but for now, she remains dedicated to her family.
"We take each month by month, that's the best way. We can't over plan for things and we really don't know how it's going to go or our time scale.
"We try to live in the moment with less planning for the future all the time. I do think we're really blessed, we've had a lovely life together."
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