£1m fundraising drive launched in memory of campaigner Gordon Aikman
Today would've been the MND Patient and campaigner's 32nd birthday
Last updated 2nd Apr 2017
A fundraising campaign set up by Motor Neurone Disease (MND) patient and campaigner, Gordon Aikman, to fund a cure for the disease has smashed its £600,000 target - eight weeks after his death.
The news comes as the Gordon's Fightback campaign launches its #GordonsGift fundraising appeal to coincide with the MND patient and campaigner's 32nd birthday. They are calling on people across the country to donate and give the gift of a cure for MND in Gordon's memory here.
The team of friends and Gordon's husband Joe Pike have vowed to raise £1 million in memory of Aikman who died in February from the muscle wasting condition at the age of 31.
Gordon's husband Joe Pike said:
"Today, for the first time I won't be able to kiss my husband, hold him and say: ‘Happy birthday. I love you’. There are no cards this year, no gifts, no fancy meals - just memories.
“I miss Gordon’s voice, his eyes and his smile. I miss the in-jokes and affection and finishing each other's sentences.
"But Gordon never wanted pity, and I don’t either. I want to turn a negative into a positive. Today, I want everyone to mark Gordon's birthday by giving the gift of a cure for Motor Neurone Disease.
“Gordon’s real passion was finding a cure. Doctors do not know what causes Motor Neurone Disease, let alone how to cure it. But scientists in labs doing research provided him with hope. Not that he would be saved, but hope for future generations.
“A cure for MND - that would be a real gift to remember Gordon by.”
Lawrence Cowan was a close friend of Gordon’s and is a member of the Gordon's Fightback campaign. He said:
"I miss Gordon every day. He would have been delighted to smash £600,000. But he would want us to cure this terrible disease once and for all.
"That takes money. So the Gordon's Fightback campaign will do everything to fund the cutting edge research we need to stop deaths from MND.
"For Gordon, and everyone else battling this disease, we will make it our personal mission to raise £1 million.”
Family and friends of the 31-year-old remembered him at a funeral service at Warriston Crematorium before going on to a memorial service in The Hub in the capital last month.