Overview

• Clive Phillips, 50, a Birmingham-born former soldier now living in Hope, New Zealand, was diagnosed with multifocal motor neuropathy in December 2019.
• Subtle symptoms began around 2013 and escalated to a clear loss of function in early 2019, leading to a diagnosis after nerve studies, a lumbar puncture, MRI and blood tests.
• Regular intravenous immunoglobulin therapy stabilised his condition, allowing longer intervals between infusions, though he reports lasting left-hand weakness.
• He founded the Making the Most of Now social enterprise and in June completed a 22-day cycling challenge retracing the first British Tour de France team route to raise funds and awareness.
• Patient groups cite MMN’s rarity at roughly 0.6 cases per 100,000 people and note IVIg as the only widely approved treatment, while NIH data points to average diagnostic delays exceeding six years.