Man diagnoses HIMSELF with motor neurone disease after watching Stephen Hawking biopic

Staring up at the big screen Paul Whyley could not believe his eyes.

As he and his wife enjoyed the Stephen Hawking biopic, The Theory of Everything, the 62-year-old's joy turned to shock.

Unravelling before his eyes were the symptoms he himself had been suffering.

Silently, Mr Whyley ticked off all the signs of motor neurone disease, as the plot of the romantic drama starring Eddie Redmayne progressed.

The grandfather began to fear the worst, but refrained from worrying his wife of 40 years, Jayne, 59.

Such was his concern, as soon as he left the cinema, Mr Whyley, from Hagley, Worcestershire, made an appointment to see his GP.

Until then, doctors had been baffled as to what was wrong with him.

But in March, after watching the hit film, he shared his fears - he suspected the debilitating brain disease.  

Mr Whyley was sent for hospital tests and within two weeks was given the earth-shattering confirmation, he did have the same debilitating condition as Professor Hawking.

Mr Whyley, a retired blind-fitter, said: 'We went to see The Theory of Everything just two weeks before my diagnosis.

'There's a scene at the start where Stephen Hawking is running and he suddenly falls over, and I'd had a few falls at work recently.

'Then he's writing on a blackboard, but he can't reach with his right arm.

'With my job I had to use a drill to put up blinds, but I was having to put my right arm into position with my left because I couldn't use my right arm.

'I knew for sure after the scene where they list all the symptoms. I just thought "I've got all of them".

'They said a floppy foot is a tell-tale sign of the disease, and I'd just started getting that.

'But I said nothing - it was a good film.'

Mr Whyley, who has also read Hawking's book, 'A Brief History of Time', said he had been 'as fit as a fiddle', but began suffering from pain in his right shoulder and had breathing difficulties in November.

He had been seeing his GP for a couple of months before going to the cinema, but the doctors weren't able to say what was wrong with him.

After the film the grandfather-of-four realised how serious his illness was and knew he needed help.

There was a lengthy wait to see a neurologist, so he went straight to a specialist at West Midlands Private Hospital in Halesowen instead.

Specialists performed a nerve test at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital and was told he had motor neurone disease on March 18 - but still had to wait six weeks to confirm the results.

The rare condition progressively damages parts of the nervous system, destroying muscles until walking, speaking, swallowing and breathing becomes impossible.

Mrs Whyley, a retired GP practice administrator, who shares the same name as Professor Hawking's wife played by Felicity Jones in the film, said: 'It's a vile, evil disease.

'It's frightening and has come as such a shock to us.

'We'd got a normal life - everything was fine and we were both looking forward to retirement.

'But this has hit us so suddenly and now I am looking after Paul 24/7 and we don't even have a downstairs bathroom.

'I want to raise awareness about just how rapid and devastating this disease is.

'A lot of people think of Stephen Hawking when they hear motor neurone disease mentioned, but he's not like most people.

'Over the last three months my husband has gone downhill so quickly.

'He has a private piloting licence and was very active - now I have to bathe him.

'He can't walk, he can't use his right arm, and he has a machine to clear his lungs because he can't even cough for himself.

'We love cars and motorbikes and we are hoping to make Silverstone this weekend but I don't know if we'll make it.'

Mr and Mrs Whyley met when they started working together on their local paper in the early 1970s, and they instantly fell in love.

They recently celebrated their ruby wedding anniversary with a trip to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire with their two daughters, Lauren and Heather, and four grandchildren.

Stephen Hawking has famously defied the odds and has lived with the disease for over 50 years, but doctors believe Mr Whyley's days could be numbered.

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