Martin Hywood’s diagnosis story was our Chelsea Flower Show designer’s inspiration for the garden. He tells us about his diagnosis journey, his love of being outdoors, and why the Chelsea Flower Show is a great opportunity for the muscle wasting community.
‘I never felt more alone than during my diagnosis’ – the story that inspired our Chelsea Flower Show Garden

Martin Hywood’s diagnosis story was our Chelsea Flower Show designer’s inspiration for the garden. He tells us about his diagnosis journey, his love of being outdoors, and why the Chelsea Flower Show is a great opportunity for the muscle wasting community.
When I got diagnosed in 1996, there were no treatments for muscular dystrophy. I was given this life-changing news and just sent away. I had so many emotions it was hard to process them all. I needed a quiet place of contemplation I could go to and just be alone with my thoughts and breathe. Being in nature is the best place for that. It’s important disabled people have accessible outdoor spaces they can enjoy, which is why I’m so pleased we’re creating a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.
A diagnosis is a lonely place
I was a car mechanic in my early 20’s. When I had an accident in the workshop and dislocated my knee, it took a lot longer to heal than the doctor expected. At the same time, my older brother was having back problems. We both got sent to the Radcliffe Royal Infirmary in Oxford, which was a university hospital at the time, to have a muscle biopsy.
When we went to get the results, my entire family came with us.
I was surrounded by so many people who loved me in that hospital room, but when my neurologist said I had muscular dystrophy, I’d never felt so alone in my life.
After I heard him say those words, it was like I went deaf. I didn’t hear or process anything he was saying. The weather was awful that day, and I remember fixating on the individual rain drops running down the windowpane. It felt like I was in a dream like state.
A few months later, my GP confirmed it was limb girdle muscular dystrophy. He told me I would need to rethink my life. He said I would never lift another car tyre again, and being a mechanic would soon become impossible. At 23, I couldn’t believe what was happening to me. I was so angry.
Moving forward
Over the years my anger reduced, and I went from asking ‘why me?’ to ‘why not me?’ My wife and I often saw young children being diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy or spinal muscular atrophy, and we felt we needed to do something to make a difference.
This was when we started the ‘Move a Mile for Muscles’ fundraiser. By this point I could barely walk, but we started walking a mile to places like Wimbledon, the formula one at Silverstone and the FA cup at Wembley. Celebrities at these prestigious sporting events found out and wanted to know how to help. It all spiralled from there really, and to date Hywoods Heroes family fund has raised just over £250,000.
You need nature at a time like that
Not only is being outdoors great for your mental health, but as a wheelchair user, it’s also amazing core exercise to drive along bumpy tracks and through forests.
There’s been a big focus over the last couple of years on physical exercise releasing endorphins and the importance of breathing in fresh air for our bodies. It’s important that everyone has the opportunity to experience this in safe, inclusive spaces.
I’ve noticed a big improvement in businesses and organisations responsible for creating outdoor spaces in making them more accessible. A lot of people are also now asking the opinions of people living with disabilities, rather than just making decisions they think will work. It’s good to be included in these conversations and for it to be recognised that we have a valuable input.
Ula’s Chelsea Garden inspiration
I first met Ula Maria when we went to see the hospital that the Chelsea Garden will be relocated to – which happens to be where I was first diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. By the end of the meeting, it felt like we’d known each other for years. She said she felt even more inspired by my story now that she’d heard me talk about it face to face. It’s great to know she really understands the important work we do as a charity and what nature means to so many families in our community.