FRIENDS of a Greenock man who is bravely battling motor neurone disease have rallied round to help him continue to speak after a Tele appeal paid off.

Donald Miller was diagnosed with the incurable condition seven years ago and it has gradually taken its toll on his mobility and speech.

The 51-year-old now needs a wheelchair to get around and his ability to speak is very limited.

At the end of January, Donald and wife Michelle, 50 — fresh from handing over a cheque for more than £1,000 to charity MND Scotland — appealed for help to get a new iPad with specialist software to help him continue to communicate.

It prompted a group of friends from the Gourock Ex-Servicemen’s Club, who Donald used to play football for, to club together and raise enough money to help their pal.

Donald and Michelle then used the kind donation to buy a brand new iPad loaded with speech software to allow him to continue to speak.

He said: “It was brilliant to get it.” The modest group of friends wanted to be known only as Rab, Shug and Jimmy.

Michelle paid a heartfelt thanks to them on behalf of her and Donald.

She said: “We’re really grateful for the iPad — we really appreciate it.

“It’s a big help.” Donald and Michelle say they were overwhelmed with the generous gesture.

Michelle said: “They read the story in the Tele and were at the fundraising charity night and said they would see what they could do.

“Then they came to us with the money and we went to the Apple store in Glasgow.

“It just shows you the kindness of people — this was a true act of kindness.” The couple also wish to thank staff at the Inverclyde Physical Disability Rehabilitation Unit (PDRU) at the Larkfield Unit in Greenock for their support of Donald.

They now hope to raise awareness of the ‘great work’ the unit does, as well as charity MND Scotland.

Michelle said: “They need help for the work they do.

“They don’t have a lot of money and we’re going to try and raise some funds for them to maybe buy some iPads to help others in a similar situation to Donald.”