Motor neurone disease (MND) patient and campaigner Gordon Aikman has called on medical graduates to be the generation that delivers a cure as he received an honorary degree in recognition of his contribution to improving research and care.
Mr Aikman, 30, who was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease last year, collected an honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburgh today.
Receiving a standing ovation from the audience, he called on the assembled graduates to "be the generation that administers the world's first ever cure for MND".
Mr Aikman, who is a graduate of the university, said in a speech during the ceremony at the city's Usher Hall: "Eight years ago I was sitting where you are today. Proud, excited, relieved, a whole world of opportunities ahead.
"Then, last year, things for me took an unexpected turn.
"I remember vividly sitting opposite my neurologist at the Western General here in Edinburgh. The pain in his eyes as he explained there was nothing he could do. No treatment. No cure. Nothing. I was dying - and fast.
"When you're 29 and feel healthy, that is hard to accept. You expect there to be a packet of pills for everything - not this time. And it was that sense of unfairness, frustration, helplessness that forced me to act."
Mr Aikman launched Gordon's Fightback to help those diagnosed with the disease and last month it was announced that the campaign had raised more than £300,000 to fund research into a cure.
The campaigner had already successfully lobbied the First Minister to publicly fund and double the number of specialist MND nurses across Scotland.
Together with MND Scotland, he has also been campaigning for a law change so that the 80%-95% of MND patients who lose their voice are guaranteed the equipment they need to communicate.
He said: "My campaign has been my way of turning a negative into a positive. Together we have transformed patient care and raised hundreds of thousands of pounds. That is amazing - but it is not enough.
"What makes medicine so incredible is that it's constantly evolving, ever advancing. Not by chance, but because great minds refuse to rest: ever striving for that next breakthrough, ever ambitious, ever hopeful.
"So as you go into the clinics, laboratories and hospitals of the world, I don't want you to just be mopping up the mess this and too many other diseases leave behind.
"I want you to be the generation that administers the world's first ever cure for MND.
"Yes, we need to invest in medical research like never before. But ultimately it is you that can help make that dream a reality."
People can find out more at gordonsfightback.com or donate £5 by texting MNDS85 £5 to 70070.
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