The Miracle | The Walkers Ep4
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What rare condition is Moth diagnosed with and how does it affect him?
the observer.
Moth, I have to tell you this. This is so important. I've been researching CBD, looking for the answer to why you were so well when we were walking and why you're deteriorating so quickly now.
It's the summer of 2015 in Rainer Wynne's second book, The Wild Silence. The couple are living in the Cornish coastal town of Polruin and Moth's been studying horticulture at university. But the sedentary lifestyle means his health is getting worse. The neurological condition he has means his memory's going and he's losing weight and limping. In desperation, Rainer starts digging into medical papers, trying to understand why moths' health was so much better when they took their massive walk along the southwest coastal path the previous year.
I showed him the research and made him read about patients with Alzheimer's who had undergone endurance training and had miraculously regained some cognitive abilities, which doctors had believed were lost forever. Don't you see? That's what the path was for us. Extreme endurance training. We were walking miles every day, carrying heavy weights on a really restricted diet. It's the same thing.
Moth has CBD, not Alzheimer's, but both illnesses involve a build-up of protein in the brain, so Rainer thinks this study must be relevant. Then she tells Moth about another paper that shows that plants release chemicals that have a positive effect on humans.
Surely this proves it, proves what I've always believed.
What role does Rainer play in Moth's health journey?
We need the plants, the land, the natural world. We actually physically need it. I'm convinced it's part of the answer to why your health was so much better while you were walking. It has to be.
The Salt Path isn't just a memoir about a difficult time in Moth and Rainer's lives. It's about how grit and perseverance, coupled with true love and nature, is a recipe that revives the dying moth in a way that modern medicine can't. It's about a secular miracle. These are Rainer Wynne's books, but in many ways it's Moth's story. And yet Moth is largely absent from all the publicity. Rainer's headlined so many literary festivals, been on dozens of chat show sofas and countless podcasts. And Moth has only done a handful of media appearances. Of course, that's understandable given his terminal neurodegenerative illness. But when he does appear in public, he's not camera shy. Here he is on Channel 5 at Hay Farm, talking about why most cider apples aren't good to eat.
It's very dry. Very, very bitter. I love the American term for cider apple trees. and that they're spitters. And forgive me, it's... It really is unpleasant.
Elsewhere, he's appeared on the red carpet with Jason Isaacs and beamed into the one show with his own video message for the actor who played him in the Hollywood movie of his life.
Jason... I just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been meeting you and an absolute honour to see you portray me, me of all people. Thank you. It's not up to Jason's standard, is it?
There's also this video I found online before I released my investigation. It was made by a charity called the PSPA that represents people with CBD.
This whole CBD journey started with just an aching shoulder. I thought I'd just pulled a muscle. I didn't realise at the time that I was also gaining a limp. It affects every moment of my waking day. It feels like somebody's moved into my body. This presence, if I dare call it that, is very cold. This is so tiring.
The Salt Path has been read by millions of people. Millions more have watched the film. That's a lot of people being told that if you're dying and you simply try hard enough, if you're prepared to push beyond what you think you can endure, and if you really connect with nature, then you can cure the incurable. The film and books were watched and read by people who've been diagnosed with CBD and those who've nursed loved ones as they died.
I believed it. I wanted to believe it. That maybe, just maybe, I need to sort out my game and fight it.
There was just one problem with that. Do medical miracles happen?
No.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What rare condition is Moth diagnosed with and how does it affect him?
0:04–1:55
2
What role does Rainer play in Moth's health journey?
1:55–6:08
3
How does extreme endurance training relate to Moth's condition?
6:08–10:07
4
What evidence suggests a connection between nature and health?
10:07–14:14
5
What challenges does Moth face in public appearances?
14:14–26:13
6
How does Moth's health fluctuate after their walking adventures?
26:13–39:20