Mike Tindall has candidly opened up about his dad's struggle with Parkinson's disease, admitting that Phillip Tindall has deteriorated in the last 12 months. The former rugby player, who shares two children with Zara Tindall, appeared on Good Morning Britain to raise awareness of the condition for the charity Cure Parkinson's.
© Photo: Getty ImagesMike with his eldest daughter Mia
Speaking about his dad, he said: "It's a nightmare disease because there are over 40 symptoms of what Parkinsons can look like... people think they're drunk or people can freeze in the middle of the street but that's the difficult part of it. As my dad's progressed down his journey. I was very blasé at the start, he was diagnosed in 2003. He had this tremor for a couple of years before that and being a typical bloke didn't address the issue early enough... He was good for a long period of time and then sort of been in the last year - and the last five years - you've seen it catch up on him."
READ: Mike Tindall reveals whether he thinks Prince Harry will make a good dad
He continued: "It's deteriorated. He had a really bad year last year. He was sitting at 12 stone and over 12 months... he went down to eight stone one. All that strength's taken out of him." Speaking about how it affects the family, the father-of-two added that it made it difficult for his dad to spend time with his two children, Mia and Lena. "Look at my dad, I knew what he was as a dad," he explained. "He taught me to play rugby, he taught me to tackle... he's still that guy who wants to be playing with Mia and Lena but he needs to question how far he can go with it because he's not the same." He also advised people to be patient with a Parkinson's sufferer, who can find things like walking through doorways enormously challenging. He added: "You have to be patient with them. Doorways have been a big problem for my dad, he just can't get through a doorway."
READ: Mike Tindall just revealed Kate Middleton's exercise secret
