This week is Parkinson's Awareness Week, which aims to raise awareness of the condition and to give victims and their families a boost. BARRY NELSON talks to sufferer Shaun Wood, who has had the illness for ten years.

RUNNING was Shaun Wood's speciality. An RAF painter by day, at weekends and evenings he could be seen slogging around the roads around the Leeming air base.

"At one point I was running 100 miles a week as part of my training," recalls Shaun. A keen marathon and cross country runner, he frequently represented his unit in competitions. He even ran against Navy and Army teams. His one regret is narrowly missing out on running in the Boston Marathon. The trip had to be cancelled because one of his mates was injured.

Now, where he used to run like the wind, Shaun shuffles. What changed everything started almost exactly ten years ago when he noticed that one of his thumbs was twitching uncontrollably.

"At first I didn't take a lot of notice of it but because I was a spray painter, working with my hands, it started to cause problems," says the 43-year-old from Northallerton. It was during one of his regular RAF check-ups that he mentioned his thumb. The reaction was swift.

"The doctor referred me to a London hospital where a neurologist saw me. I had a scan and loads of tests and by the end of the week they were 100 per cent sure I had Parkinson's Disease."

To be told at the age of 33 that he had such a seriously disabling disease was a huge blow. It meant the end of Shaun's RAF career and an end to his marathon running. But with the support of his wife Janice and his three young boys, he has somehow managed to remain positive about life.

"My wife and kids have been great about everything. We try our hardest to keep things normal and be positive about things," says Shaun, whose eldest son Shaun Jr has chosen a career in the RAF.

The disease affects different people in different ways; in Shaun's case an early diagnosis combined with a good background level of fitness meant that he has been able - with the help of powerful drugs - to keep the worst excesses of Parkinson's Disease at bay for most of the last ten years.

However, in the last 18 months, Shaun says he has noticed a slow deterioration.

"The latest thing is having trouble swallowing, I also feel dizzy if I stand up quickly because the blood doesn't get pumped up to my head quickly enough," he says.

One of the ways Shaun has fought back against the disease is to work for the Parkinson's Disease Society.

"I was co-ordinator of the Young Alert Parkinson's and Relatives group (YAPR's) in Northallerton until I stepped down recently," he says.

More than anything else, Shaun would like to see people be more accepting about Parkinson's Disease.

"People need to understand that it could happen to anyone. It's just like having cancer or any other serious disease.