Hi my name is Dawn. I'm raising money to pay for a funeral for my darling Tony who passed away on 14th September with Huntingtons Disease. I have been his partner for 31 years and his full time carer for the last 5 years. We have been living on benefits with not much to spare for life insurance, quite expensive if you have a life limiting disease. Also we didn't have a funeral plan , which would have been a good idea .

Tony was only 57 when he passed. Huntingtons disease is a degenerative neurological disease, it's MS, Parkinsons and ALS all rolled into one. The faulty gene is passed down through a parent and you have a 50/50 chance of inheriting it. Tonys sister Jane passed away with this also Its a cruel harsh disease but as seen in recent news footage there is hope on the horizon for HD warriors.

I'll tell you a bit about Tony. He was a biker, very fit , he loved going up mountains Ben Nevis and Snowdon numerous times. Sometimes dragging me behind him . He loved cycling, running , rock climbing ,going to see his favourite rock bands. He was a hard worker, never late and never off sick . He tested positive for HD in 2003 he was gutted to say the least but he faced up to it with dignity and strength. He started showing signs about 10 years ago, gradually getting worse until he couldn't speak , walk or eat proper food because he had a swallowing problem. It's the swallowing problems that usually happen in the last stage of HD. The food goes the wrong way into the lungs and leads to aspiration and pneumonia. Tony was admitted to hospital on the 15th August, his birthday. He was treated for pneumonia with 3 different strong antibiotics and high flow oxygen. After 10 days the doctor told me he wasn't going to win . I said if you provide the oxygen, I'll take him home. So that's what happened Tony passed away a couple of weeks later in his own bed with me at his side. He was a remarkable kind man with a generous spirit. He once said to me the worst thing about all this is not being able to ride a motorbike again. I said you will always be my Knight in scruffy leather.

He's wearing his old bike jacket, jeans and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt to go in , I just hope there's a bike waiting for him when he gets there. Ive applied for a government funeral grant but have been told it can take up to 6 weeks. I can't leave it that long. Im asking for 3 thousand pounds for a basic cremation with a 5 minute service. Ive never done this before and feel as though I'm holding a begging bowl. If anyone would like to contribute, I would be so grateful.

I miss him so much already we haven't been apart in 31 years, my soul mate x