AN INSPIRATIONAL widow and her family have raised more than £8,000 to fund research into the cruel disease that killed her husband.

Tam Taylor, a former marine, passed away last November at the age of 65 due to motor neurone disease.

His wife Evelyn, children and grandchildren have channelled their grief into supporting the MND Scotland charity.

Evelyn, 64, said: “I still can’t believe Tam is away.

“I find it hard that he’s not here.

“He was such a fit man — it’s hard not knowing what causes MND.”

Evelyn has a daughter Karen, 38, son Nicol, 36, who is married to Claire, and five grandchildren Chloe 15, Cameron, four, Jessica, 11, Katelyn, nine, and Xander, seven.

Their fundraising started by collecting £1,000 from Tam’s funeral at Greenock Crematorium.

Other challenges included The Glasgow Kiltwalk in April and the MND 10K in Strathclyde Park in June.

Tam was a big Rangers fan, so they applied to hold a collection at Ibrox and collected £2,800 from Gers fans.

Nicol and Claire had bought Tam a brick at the stadium to mark his 65th birthday, which was installed shortly before he died.

The family also joined Evelyn’s brother-in-law Eddie and his granddaughter Skye, six, on a climb to the top of Ben Nevis this month.

Tam had asked the family to do this for him after he died.

Karen said: “It was really tough on the kids and they all broke through a wall physically, but they all did it at different times.

“I gave them bon bons to get the sugar pumping and as soon as we got into the mist, it was amazing.

“My brother had a hip flask and we had a nip of whisky.

“We were so proud of all the kids.”

Evelyn, of Auchmead Road, managed to spend precious time with Tam to mark their 40th wedding anniversary.

The couple enjoyed a cruise, visiting Rome, Corsica and Barcelona in October.

She said: “He was really happy to be there in the sunshine and the cruise people were excellent.”

Tam had bulbar onset MND, leaving him unable to speak, but his family all learned sign language so they could communicate with him.

Tam later fell ill with a bout of pneumonia and was admitted to hospital.

Evelyn said: “He told me this was the last time as he went in his wheelchair to the ambulance.”

But Evelyn, a secretary at Inverclyde Royal, said she was in denial. Even though she knew the hard facts, she was still hoping that her beloved Tam would survive.

She said: “You keep thinking that maybe they’ve got it wrong, maybe he’ll come through.

“There was no oxygen getting into his body and he was on a ventilator but you just don’t want to give up.

“Two days before he passed away there was a beautiful sunset over the river and Tam saw it as well.

“I feel that was his sunset.”

Tam’s loved ones have since thrown themselves into fundraising to help to cope with their loss.

Evelyn said: “It has helped us to focus.

“It helps that we are doing him proud.

“We’re really pleased at what we’ve raised.”

Karen says the fundraising has helped her cope.

She said: “When you’re affected by a disease that no-one knows anything about, you want to give other people hope that there’s a cure.

“If you can help sponsor the research, hopefully scientists will find a cure, or some way of slowing it down.”

The family have also taken comfort from the fact that Tam, who was always thinking of others, left his spinal column and brain to medical research.

She said: “He was always thinking of other people before himself.

“He was a family man and very caring.”

The family now have lots of other events in the pipeline including the MND Scotland 5k fun run at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh on August 27.

Evelyn said: “Tam did it last year in his wheelchair, so it will be emotional.”

Her niece Frances Harwood is also doing a sponsored swim in Loch Lomond on August 26, while a group of Tam’s former work colleagues at the hospital are doing a fundraising event and a sponsored cycle has been planned for around Millport on October 1.