FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has made a personal pledge to work to improve care for Motor Neurone Disease after hearing the pleas of a man dying of the illness.
Ms Sturgeon made the promise after MND sufferer Gordon Aikman made a speech at The Herald's Politician of the Year event in Edinburgh on Thursday night.
Mr Aikman, 29, is a former press officer for the Labour Party who discovered he had contracted MND during the run up to the independence referendum.
Since then he has campaigned under the banner "Gordon's Fightback" to improve treatment for those who have the condition and to raise funds for research, although he makes it plain any breakthrough will come too late for him.
He has so far raised £100,000 and was recently invited to a reception at 10 Downing Street hosted by Samantha Cameron and attended by a wide range of celebrities and senior politicians from across the political spectrum.
MND is an often fatal disease which progressively robs sufferers of the ability to control their muscles, forcing them into a wheelchair before eventually taking away their ability to breathe independently
At any one time there are around 400 people living with the disease in Scotland, and most are given a diagnosis of just 14 months to live.
Mr Aikman was invited to speak at the Politician of the Year event after winning the judges' award for his fundraising efforts.
He also asked the new First Minister to end the situation whereby some people with terminal diseases end up paying for care during their final days.
He said: "The Scottish Parliament is proud of its record on free personal care, but it's not working if people on their deathbeds are having to pay to be looked after.
"While some local authorities do fulfil their legal obligations towards people who need care in the last months of their lives, there are gaps in the service and I want the First Minister to ensure that these are closed.
"I look forward to bringing these points up with Nicola in the coming weeks."
When she went up to accept the Politician of the Year award, Ms Sturgeon said: "Over the course of this remarkable year for our country, many things have inspired me. But nothing and no-one has inspired me more than Gordon Aikman.
"Gordon, you rightly threw down a challenge to me this evening and I am happy to pick it up."
Mr Aikman yesterday said: "I had a chat with the First Minister when I left the stage. She came up and gave me a hug. We are going to have a meeting as soon as possible.
"The First Minister is very keen to help and promised to take action on the three points that I raised during my speech."
The former Better Together campaigner said the had called on politicians to double the number of nurses who specialise in the treatment of MND from seven to 14, and to provide better support for sufferers.
Earlier this year almost £7million was raised in Britain to fund the fight against MND through the Ice Bucket charity challenge.
The charitable act saw people upending buckets of ice cold water over themselves, and became an online craze in the summer.
Ms Sturgeon was among those who pledged to take part after being nominated by Mr Aikman.
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