Simba Kudyiwa reveals childhood role as mother's MND carer

Love Island star Simba Kudyiwa has revealed that he has been a carer since childhood for his mother, who suffers from Motor Neurone Disease.

Speaking on Friday's edition of Good Morning Britain, the 25-year-old explained that he began caring for his mother at the age of 10 after she was diagnosed with the progressive neurological condition.

Simba, who works as an NHS neurological rehabilitation assistant and plays semi-professional football, recalled first noticing his mother's loss of hand strength when she asked him to pull up their car's handbrake.

He explained that his parents tried to protect him and his six-year-old brother from understanding the full gravity of the diagnosis at the time.

"It was a lot of responsibility being an older brother and now there's mum to look after as well," Simba said. "I'm proud of myself, it's made me the man I am now and given me so many skills."

Adapting to Communication Loss and Adversity

By the age of 13, Simba's mother had lost the ability to speak due to the progression of Motor Neurone Disease. She now communicates using an eye-gaze system, a tablet device that tracks eye movements to spell out words on screen.

Simba joked that his mother still uses the technology to manage the household. "She tells me off all the time! She can do everything," he said.

He added that his mother's positive attitude helped shape his own perspective when facing difficult circumstances at home.

"When you're faced with this level of adversity, especially from a young age, it's easy to go into your shell and feel sad and be down about it," Simba said. "But for me I had to look at it from a different perspective, and she gave me that perspective as well."

He described how his mother continues to light up rooms and stay cheerful despite her physical limitations. "My mum isn't someone that's down and upset, regardless of how she's feeling, she's smiling, she's talking on the eye-gaze, she lights up rooms," he said.

Relationship with Angelista Gunda

During his appearance on Good Morning Britain, Simba also discussed his relationship with nurse Angelista Gunda, whom he met on Love Island.

The couple finished in third place on the reality show after overcoming earlier relationship challenges linked to Simba's wandering eye.

Simba recalled watching Love Island alongside his mother before entering the villa as a bombshell contestant. Upon seeing Angelista on screen, he remembered telling his mother about her career as a nurse, noting that his mother "smiled bares."

While the remark was initially misconstrued by viewers as dismissive, Simba clarified that it was intended as the highest compliment because his mother cannot speak.

Simba revealed that his mother loves Angelista and explained that her professional background as a nurse allowed her to connect with his family situation on a deeper level.

"With Angelista, it's the empathy. It's easy for people to feel sympathetic for my situation," Simba said. "It's been such a short amount of time that we've known each other but I can see she feels what I feel and that's massive for me."

He confirmed that relations between the couple remain good following their departure from the island.

Understanding Motor Neurone Disease

Motor Neurone Disease, often abbreviated as MND, is an uncommon condition affecting the brain and nerves that causes muscle weakness to worsen over time, according to the NHS.

The disease involves the deterioration of upper motor neurons traveling from the brain down the spinal cord, as well as lower motor neurons extending to the face, throat, and limbs.

First identified in 1865 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, the condition is also known as Charcot's disease.

In the UK, the condition is referred to as Motor Neurone Disease, whereas in the US, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is defined as a specific subset of MND. According to Oxford University Hospitals, nearly 90 per cent of MND patients have the mixed ALS form, making the terms widely interchangeable.

Symptoms and Diagnosis of MND

Early symptoms of MND include ankle or leg weakness that leads to tripping or difficulty climbing stairs, alongside a reduced ability to grip objects.

Patients may experience slurred speech in early stages, which can later progress to difficulty swallowing food. Other symptoms include muscle twitches, cramps, and weight loss caused by muscle thinning.

Diagnosing MND is challenging in its early stages because no single test exists and several conditions present similar symptoms. Doctors typically arrive at a diagnosis through a process of elimination.

Prognosis, Causes and Impact

There is currently no cure for MND, and the disease is fatal. Treatment focuses on managing symptoms to improve quality of life as the condition progresses at varying speeds among patients.

Patients are generally expected to live between two and five years after symptoms first appear, though 10 per cent of individuals survive for 10 years or longer.

While the NHS notes that MND predominantly affects older adults, it can develop in adults of any age. The exact causes of the disease remain unknown.

According to the ALS Association, MND affects people globally without racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic boundaries. However, men are 20 per cent more likely to develop the condition, and military war veterans face twice the risk of developing ALS.

The Legacy of Lou Gehrig's Disease

Motor Neurone Disease is also widely referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, named after the legendary New York Yankees baseball player.

Lou Gehrig played for the Yankees between 1923 and 1939 and earned the nickname "The Iron Horse" for his endurance. He played 2,130 consecutive games before ALS forced his retirement from professional sport.

Gehrig's consecutive games record stood for decades until it was broken by Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995. Gehrig passed away two years after receiving his diagnosis, and his fame led to the condition adopting his name.