Actor Matt Nable has opened up about his cousin being struck down by motor neurone disease two years after the cruel condition killed his brother Aaron.
Nable, who played first-grade for Manly and Souths before becoming an acclaimed actor and writer, farewelled Aaron in early 2024 after he lost his life to MND following a four-year battle.
Aaron, who had been an amateur Australian boxing champion at 19, died on March 3 aged 46, as the NRL was preparing to play its season-opening games in Las Vegas.
Now Matt – who has starred in Mr Inbetween, The Dry and Hacksaw Ridge – has opened up about the latest MND blow to his family.
‘This is my cousin Luke Nable. He’s 35. He was diagnosed with MND last year. He’s doing it tough,’ Nable wrote on Instagram on Saturday.
‘He’s moved into a wheelchair and he gets a PEG [Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy] in his stomach later this month.
Matt Nable (left) is pictured with his brother Aaron, who died of motor neurone disease in 2024
Now Nable has opened up about the condition hitting his cousin Luke (pictured)
‘This f**king disease is just horrible. It is indiscriminate and cruel.
‘Luke said to his mother, “I thought I had more time.” It broke her heart.
‘But that’s the reality of this disease. Fight as hard as you can cuz.’
Nable also asked for donations to a GoFundMe set up for Luke, which you can find here.
Last year, Nable took the plunge in the AFL’s ‘Big Freeze’ fundraiser, which is dedicated to finding a cure for MND after the disease struck footy legend Neale Daniher.
When Aaron was first diagnosed with motor neurone disease in July 2020, Matt began talking openly about the devastating fate awaiting all those it strikes.
The motor nerve cells in the brain of a patient with MND break down, gradually weakening the body’s muscles and causing paralysis until he or she dies.
‘This disease, what it does is just the hardest thing to watch,’ Matt said.
Nable – who has forged an acclaimed acting career since playing for Manly and Souths – has been helping raise funds to find a cure for MND
Pictured: Matt Nable’s post, in which he urged look to fight the ‘horrible’ condition as hard as he can
‘You realise when you lose something like this, it’s hard to accept.
‘I won’t ever be the same. I won’t be whole again and that’s part of life.
‘We all go through that. But it doesn’t make it any easier.
‘Aaron’s presence was so much that it’s a massive hole that he’s left.
‘He has three little boys that are 12, four and three and when Aaron got the disease, that was his focus. Providing something for his children.
‘It’s tough. He was such a gregarious man. A gentle man, he had a big life.
‘He touched a lot of people. He was an A-grade scallywag with a beautiful heart.
‘There were 2,000 people at his funeral. I don’t even know 2,000 people.
‘But he had a huge impact on a lot of people. He’s really missed.’
