Rugby superstar Mike Tindall retold the difficulty his father has had dealing with Parkinson’s disease.
While speaking to BBC’s Sally Nugent he opened up about his father Philip’s battle with the illness.
He also remarked that he was aware he had taken his family for granted and was appreciative he could visit his father for the first time in a year.
Mr Tindall, 42, said: “I was 25 and rugby was going really well and I was focussed on that.
“Then in 2011 we got married, you could see the effects were starting to grow on him.
“This is in terms of curvature to the spine and he had to have surgery on that and then slowly from that point over the last 10 years there have been loads of other problems that have occurred because of it.”
(Image: BBC)
The rugby star also described how it “didn’t really dawn on” him what Parkinson’s disease was when he was younger, having only seen the likes of Muhammad Ali and did not feel the iconic boxer and his dad had suffered the same illness.
Mr Tindall noted: “My dad is used to being this strong, was an athlete, played rugby, all sports. Now suddenly he struggles to pick up a pen.”
He recognises who difficult the change to his lifestyle has been on his father, adding that his dad can get “really frustrated and can get angry”.
(Image: Getty)
Mr Tindall revealed that the last year has made him more greatly appreciate his family.
He said: “What lockdown has done when you don’t see someone for such a long period of time, you sometimes miss what gradually appears.
“It is one of those things, if I look back I take them for granted, my mum and dad.”
Tindall is the husband of The Queen’ s granddaughter and British equestrian Zara Tindall, 40, with whom he shares daughter Mia, seven, daughter Lena, two, and two-month-old son Lucas. They have been married since 2011.
Zara is the daughter of Anne, Princess Royal and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips who divorced in 1992. Zara has an older brother, Peter Phillips.
(Image: Getty Images)
Earlier this year, the Tindalls were among those who attended the scaled-down funeral of Zara’s maternal grandfather Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who had died at the age of 99.
Speaking to the BBC after the funeral, Mike said: “Having to see the Queen make a stand in terms of showing what the world is at the moment and sit on her own and be as brave as she was, I thought just summed her up as a lady.
“Then the funeral finished and it was ‘get in your cars and go home’, but that is what was allowed, that is what the rules state, so that is what happened.”
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