A healthcare charity has dropped the author of memoir The Salt Path after claims were made about her husband’s illness and an allegation that she stole £64,000 from a former employer.
PSPA said it was ‘shocked and disappointed’ about the allegations that were reported against Raynor and Moth Winn saying it had ‘taken everyone by surprise’.
Questions have been raised about Moth’s debilitating illness, corticobasal degeneration [CBD], a rare neurological condition in the same family as Parkinson’s disease, which is central to the book.
The life expectancy for sufferers after diagnosis is around six to eight years, according to the NHS – however Moth has been living with the condition for 18 years with no apparent visible symptoms.
But an investigation by The Observer – the findings of which the Winns dispute – saw a number of neurologists specialising in CBD contacted, with one telling the newspaper that his history with the illness ‘does not pass the sniff test’.
It is suggested that anyone suffering from CBD for longer than 12 years would need round-the-clock care.
Following the allegations, PSPA, which has worked with the Winns, said ‘there were too many unanswered questions’.
‘We were shocked and disappointed to learn of the allegations made about Raynor and Moth Winn by The Observer this weekend,’ a statement on the charity’s website read.
‘We know the article has taken everyone by surprise and has made people affected by Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) feel angry, let down and eager for clarity.
‘Raynor and Moth worked with many individuals and organisations since their first book was published, including PSPA.
‘We received the family’s need for support, and desire to raise awareness of PSP & CBD in good faith.
‘Whilst we are thankful for the awareness opportunities their story has provided; too many questions currently remain unanswered. Therefore, we have made the decision to terminate our relationship with the family.’
Winn’s account of losing her home before embarking on a mammoth trek of the South West Coast Path in her best-selling 2018 memoir has come under the microscope following The Observer’s investigation.
The newspaper said that Raynor and Moth previously went by their less flamboyant legal names, Sally and Tim Walker.
And rather than being forced out of their home in rural Wales when an investment in a childhood friend’s business went awry, as the book suggested, it is alleged that the property was repossessed after Winn stole tens of thousands of pounds from a former employer and was arrested.
A spokeswoman for the Winns on Sunday night told the Mail that the allegations made in the Sunday newspaper were ‘highly misleading’.
Their statement added: ‘The Salt Path lays bare the physical and spiritual journey Moth and I shared, an experience that transformed us completely and altered the course of our lives. This is the true story of our journey.’
When asked to specify which allegations were misleading or factually inaccurate, the spokesman declined to comment further but said that the couple were taking legal advice.
When the couple failed to repay a loan taken out with a relative to repay the stolen money – agreed on terms that the police would not be further involved – they lost their home, it is claimed.
Released in 2018, The Salt Path details the Winns’ decision to embark on the South West Coast Path when they lose their home after investing a ‘substantial sum’ into a friend’s business which ultimately failed.
In the book, Winn writes: ‘We lost. Lost the case. Lost the house.’
The memoir then describes their subsequent 630-mile walk to salvation, wild camping en route and living on around £40 per week, and is described as a ‘life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world.’
It prompted two sequels and the film adaptation, which was released in May, starring The X Files’ Anderson and Isaacs, who recently starred in HBO’s The White Lotus.
The Winns posed for photographs alongside the actors on the red carpet in London at the film’s premiere.
