The daughter of a beloved Lanarkshire dad who died just four months after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease is taking part in a fundraiser in aid of the charity that provided "wonderful support" to her family.
Murdo Stewart, from the village of Caldercruix near Airdrie, sadly passed away on August 17 after originally being given 10 months to live in April.
His family believe the 55-year-old suffered one of the most rapid deteriorations an MND sufferer has endured after his body shut down within weeks. The average life expectancy of a MND patient is around 18 months.
His wife Lynn, 51, first noticed something could be wrong after Murdo slurred a word in January - and then a few weeks later he muddled up a sentence. Shortly after he was diagnosed on April 10, he lost his ability to speak.
Heartbroken widow Lynn told Lanarkshire Live : "Murdo is all I've known since I was 17 - I have no idea what I'm going to do now.
"He was far too young to go and we still had a lot to do together.
"At first we thought he might have had a stroke but after he was sent for tests there was no suggestion that had happened. He was referred to neurology at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and it was there that they realised it was MND.
"Everything has happened so fast since and we were just flung into this journey. I had no idea of what such an ugly and disgusting disease it is and there absolutely no cure for it.
"MND is most associated with affecting your muscles but for Murdo it was cognitive and he developed Frontal Dementia which made him quite different.
"He lost his speech and I could see it was an embarrassing thing for him."
Murdo's daughter Gemma, 22, is now taking part in a 10k run at the Great Scottish Run Half Marathon on October 2 to raise funds for charity MND Scotland, with nearly £2000 already collected.
Gemma told us : "I was initially taking part in the half marathon myself but my partner Daniel, cousins Josh and Craig and friend Greg are all going to join me.
"They saw the deterioration in my dad and, like me, want to do whatever they can to help the charity and its work.
"I've never done anything like a 10k before, but the minute my dad was diagnosed, I knew I wanted to do something as I had no clue what MND was, and feel like a lot of people are in the same boat.
"Considering how cruel the disease, I wanted to try and spread as much awareness as possible.
"I intended to start training months ago but due to dad being so ill, I had to step up and help my mum care for him, which was a full-time job.
"Now, I will start training as soon as possible as dad passing away has made me even more eager to get going."
Gemma added: "It's so important for me to raise funds for MND Scotland because there is no disease quite like it.
"The lack of treatment, and the fact there is no cure, is heartbreaking. The strain this illness puts on families, knowing every day you are closer to losing your loved one, is so awful.
"MND is not spoke about enough and people don't know enough about it. It takes away everything from a person.
"My dad and I were so close, ever since I was little. I went to him for absolutely everything.
"He helped with everything, from fixing my car to building my bedroom, but eventually he couldn’t even remember much and I felt like I'd lost him.
"It's been such an emotional rollercoaster and people have no idea of the suffering. As I'm an only child and just have my mum now, we don’t know what we would have done without the support of our family, close friends and neighbours."
Murdo, who was a dedicated Rangers fan, worked in the transport industry all his career and had to give up his job as an HGV driver in February.
He had never been off sick during his career and lived a healthy life.
Gemma said: "I could see he was quite scared and confused as he didn't know what was going on. I just can't imagine being stuck in your own body.
"He had behavioural changes, and when we talked about how Rangers legend Fernando had MND, he didn't know what were talking about. That was crazy because he loved him.
"He was using an iPad to communicate when he lost his speech, but more recently when I would ask him questions he just didn't have a clue what I was asking him."
Lynn gave up her work as a hairdresser to care for husband Murdo.
She explained: "We've worked all our lives and suddenly we're having to rely on the benefits system, which is awful in these situations when you have enough to worry about.
"Carers only started coming into help three weeks ago. Murdo was still walking with a stick four weeks ago.
"He seemed to progress onto each stage every couple of weeks. He was very aggressive with me during one stage and that was just not my husband. Then for a couple of weeks he was crying all the time.
"We had to hide his car keys because he'd forgot he couldn't drive. There was just no respite. I went from a very sociable life to being stuck in the house for weeks.
"I think the hardest part is that Murdo dealt with all the bills so when I was trying to sort it all out I'd ask him questions but he just didn't know what I was asking."
Murdo's funeral took place on Thursday, at Coats Funeral Home followed by Holytown Crematorium, and MND Scotland CEO, Rachel Maitland, highlighted how heartless an illness MND is - and paid tribute to Gemma's fundraising campaign for the charity.
Rachel said: "MND is brutally fast. The average life expectancy from diagnosis is just 18 months and sadly, for some, this time is cut even shorter.
“Stories like this really show that people with MND do not have time to wait. That is why we are here to make sure the time people do have counts by providing vital financial, practical and wellbeing support to those affected.
"It is also why we are determined to find meaningful treatments by investing in pioneering MND research, only made possible by the incredible fundraising efforts of people like Gemma.
“We cannot thank Gemma enough for her continued support and our thoughts are with her and her family at this extremely difficult time.”
To donate to Gemma's fundraising campaign for MND Scotland, visit here.
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