Motor Neurone Disease and Death
Johnstone was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in November 2001. To raise funds for charity and to raise awareness of the disease, he launched a new version of the song "Dirty Old Town" together with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds.
Johnstone died in March 2006. The last person to call him was old Rangers rival, Willie Henderson, who had become a firm friend of Johnstone. Thousands of Celtic fans, and fans of many other clubs, including those of arch-rivals Rangers paid tribute to his memory outside Celtic Park on St Patrick's Day, the day of his funeral service. Tributes were paid to Johnstone before the 2006 Scottish League Cup Final, played between Celtic and Dunfermline. There was a minute of applause before the game and the entire Celtic squad wore the number 7 on their shorts in his honour.
In 2011 a statue of Jimmy Johnstone and a memorial garden were created on the site at his former school, close to his home, on the Old Edinburgh Road, Viewpark, Uddingston. The garden was opened by Jimmy Johnstone's wife, family and some of the surviving members of the 'Lisbon Lions' team. The bronze life size statue was made by sculptor John McKenna.
Read more about this topic: Jimmy Johnstone
Famous quotes containing the words motor, disease and/or death:
“The motor idles.
Over the immense upland
the pulse of their blossoming
thunders through us.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“The fantasies inspired by TB in the last century, by cancer now, are responses to a disease thought to be intractable and capricious—that is, a disease not understood—in an era in which medicine’s central premise is that all diseases can be cured.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Do but consider this small dust, here running in the glass,
By atoms moved.
Could you believe that this the body was
Of one that loved?
And in his mistress’ flame playing like a fly,
Turned to cinders by her eye?
Yes, and in death as life unblest,
To have’t expressed,
Even ashes of lovers find no rest.”
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)