Walking to defeat MND for John: A father’s legacy of connection

Today is the day that people across Aotearoa unite in the Walk to Defeat MND – an opportunity to honour, remember, support, and stand alongside those affected by MND. Every registration, donation, and fundraising effort contributes to meaningful change.

When Renée Walker and her team ‘We’re walking for John’ join the Christchurch Walk to Defeat MND today, every step will carry the legacy of her dad John Walker, a man whose greatest gift was bringing people together.

Although John and his wife Briar spent nearly 50 years living in Sydney, their roots were always firmly planted in New Zealand. Both grew up in Ōamaru, surrounded by large families, and despite living across the Tasman, they returned home every year. Their children eventually spread out too, with Renée building a life in Christchurch more than 20 years ago, another daughter living in the North Island, and a son based in Vietnam.

When John was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in August 2023, his one wish was simple: to come home to die.

In March 2024, John and his wife returned to Ōamaru. Looking back, his daughter says the final two years of his life were both the hardest and the best their family has ever experienced.

“We spent more time together as an extended family in those two years than we had in the 20 years before,” says Renée.

Living in Christchurch, she was able to make the trip south regularly, while her brother returned home from Vietnam multiple times and her sister moved to Ōamaru to help care for their father. Together, they supported John so he could remain at home until he passed away on 6 February this year, 30 months after his diagnosis.

John’s illness showed just how many lives he had touched.

“My dad had a way of making every person feel like they were the most important person in his world,” she says. “The house was always full of family and friends,” says Renée.

As MND progressed, John lost the use of his arms, although he was able to walk right until the end of his life. His family helped him with almost every aspect of daily living, returning the care he had given them throughout their lives.

“Things he’d done for us our entire lives became things we did for him, and we considered it an absolute privilege.”

At John’s funeral, his lifelong friend George, whom he met shortly after moving to Sydney nearly 50 years ago, said John “taught us how to live, and how to die.” During John’s illness, George made 10 trips from Australia to visit him and has travelled to Christchurch again to walk alongside John’s family today.

For Renée, the Walk to Defeat MND is about raising awareness of a disease her family knew very little about before his diagnosis. But it is also about honouring the man who connected so many people throughout his life.

“We’re walking to raise awareness, but we’re also walking to connect. Dad would love that. In life he connected us, and in death he does too,” she says.

Family and friends from near and far are gathering once again, continuing the legacy of a man whose greatest impact was the connections he built and the love he inspired.

 To help make time count for people impacted by MND and their whānau you can donate to the Walk to Defeat MND at www.mndwalk.org.nz