Honorary Degree For MND Campaigner

A Kirkcaldy MND campaigner is being honoured by Edinburgh University for his efforts in tackling the condition.

Gordon Aikman was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease last year, has succesfully lobbied the Scottish Government to double research funding.

The University of Edinburgh, where the 30 year old graduated from a decade ago, is to offer him an honorary doctorate.

The insitution is home to the Euan MacDonald Centre, a world-leading centre for Motor Neurone Disease research.

Director of the Euan MacDonald Centre, Professor Siddharthan Chandran, who will give the laureation address, said:

"This award is a terrific recognition of Gordon's tireless efforts to both increase public awareness of MND as well as improve the quality of care and support for people living with this very tough condition.

“In addition to his personal fund-raising of over £250K for research, Gordon has also persuaded Scottish Government to fund MND nurse specialists in Scotland and to double their number. 

“To have achieved all this in under a year since his diagnosis is truly remarkable."

Speaking ahead of the event, Gordon Aikman said:

“I am absolutely delighted to receive this honour from the University of Edinburgh – an institution which is at the cutting-edge of MND research.

“This isn’t what I expected to be doing a few years out of uni. But none of us know what is around the corner, so we must all make the most of the time we have got.

“With every day that I have left I will be fighting to bring closer the day we live in a world free from MND.
 
“It’ll be too late for me, but we can and we must find a cure for future generations.”
 
You can donate to Gordon’s Fightback by texting MNDS85 £5 to 70070 or by visiting JustGiving.com/GordonAikman