Scotland rugby legend Doddie Weir on battling MND with a smile

(CNN)Doddie Weir is the kind of guy who's hard to miss. At six feet and six inches tall, he towers over almost everybody and just in case you don't quite spot him the first time, he's usually decked from head to toe in a bright, loud tartan suit. With a broad, beaming smile to complete the ensemble, Weir is just impossible to ignore. The Scottish broadcaster Jill Douglas has known him for most of her life, "He is one of the most positive individuals I've ever encountered and always has been," she told CNN. "He has an absolute joy of life. He loves a party. He loves people. He's a very sociable character. He's funny, but very driven."As a rugby player for Scotland, Weir wore the number five jersey of the lock position and was easily identifiable by his shock of blonde hair framed by a headband to protect his ears. He was once described by the legendary commentator Bill McLaren as 'a mad giraffe.' Weir played 61 times for his country, featuring also in the successful British and Irish Lions' tour of South Africa in 1997. He was a farmer from Borders country, whose athletic prowess took him all over the world. Read MoreLife is for living, Weir told CNN: "Life has to be a bit of laughter and a bit of a smile, because you're only here once and you've got to enjoy yourself." READ: Rugby faces 'walking time bomb' as players pursue legal action over degenerative brain diseaseDoddie Weir laughs ahead of the Six Nations game between Scotland and France in 2020. Everything changed for him though, in 2016, when Weir was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder motor neurone disease (MND). He first noticed a problem when he caught his hand in a door, and when it still hadn't healed several months later, he sought out a medical evaluation. The diagnosis was devastating. His doctors told him bluntly that his life expectancy might not extend much past 18 months and that he'd be in a wheelchair within a year. Speaking from his home near Edinburgh on a remote video link, Weir summarized the brutal facts of life with MND. "It's pretty horrific when you get the diagnosis. It's basically a muscle-wasting disease. You can't eat, you can't bathe, you can't go to the shower, the toilet, dress. You eventually can't speak, you can't swallow, you can't breathe." As he recounts all the horrors of a disease that he's endured, he at least can reflect on something positive: he's still here. And his jovial nature prevents him from lingering in the darkness for long; somehow he's able to raise a laugh when concluding, "[So] it's not the best news that you can get!"Jill Douglas has known Weir since they were teenagers; they met through their love of horses."He is a very fine equestrian, would you believe," notes Douglas. "On a very large horse, obviously!" She said she was "in pieces" when her long-time friend shared the news."It's the worst diagnosis. If you talk to people in the medical profession, it's a diagnosis they never want to share with the patient because ther