A MUSSELBURGH dad-of-three is taking on the London Marathon in aid of MND Scotland in memory of his mum and a friend and colleague who both died due to motor neurone disease.

Charles Stable, 49, of South Street, is also hoping to get the names of another 24 MND sufferers who have passed away and will remembered in his 26 ‘Memory Miles’ as he runs in the event on April 28.

He is hoping his efforts will raise awareness of the terminal illness which stops signals from the brain reaching muscles, causing people to lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, drink or breathe unaided.

Mr Stable, originally from Lincolnshire, moved to Scotland in 1995 to begin a new job as museum conservator at the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh.

He is the father of Jessica, 14, Matthew, 11, and eight-year-old Leah.

He was motivated to take on the 26-mile race in memory of mum Joan Stable, who died in 1982, and for his friend and colleague Brian Melville, who passed away last June.

He said: “My first encounter with MND was when I was 12 years old. My mum was diagnosed in 1980, passing away just two years later in 1982.

“Following her diagnosis, she quickly became bed bound and increasingly paralysed. Eventually, she wasn’t able to eat, swallow or communicate.

“Communications aids were in their early days back then and one lasting memory I have is the time my mum had to use a children’s electronic toy to speak and spell.”

His mum had spent her life caring for the health needs of others as a midwife, district nurse and health visitor. When her health deteriorated, she was cared for at St George’s Hospital in Lincoln.

Mr Stable said: “She was a very caring and kind woman who loved to laugh. I felt angry that this cruel disease was taking my mum. Losing a parent for any child has a massive impact.”

He would have to go through the heartache again when, in 2017, a friend and colleague was diagnosed.

Mr Stable said: “I first met my colleague, Brian Melville, when I went to work at the National Museums of Scotland in 1995.

“Brian worked as conservator for over 30 years until retiring in 2006. He was hugely experienced at his work and I learnt a great deal from him.

“After retirement we kept in touch, along with three other retired colleagues, meeting up for pints and a blether. Brian had a great sense of humour and told some terrible jokes. He was famed for his distinctive loud laugh.

“Brian was an active and fit sportsman, keen on golf and karate. We had already lost one of our retired colleagues to prostrate cancer, so Brian’s diagnosis was a massive bombshell.

“Having lost my mum to MND, talking to Brian about his symptoms and the conversations about the prognosis for his future was hard.

“We were still meeting up with him up until Easter 2018. He was still mobile and was able to walk, but with difficulty, and he was losing weight. He died peacefully in his sleep just a few months later in June.”

Now, Mr Stable is gearing up to take on the London Marathon for MND Scotland, to help fund the charity’s MND support services and to fund research into a cure.

He said: “During the period when Brian had received his MND diagnosis, I had recently taken up running and joined Musselburgh and District Athletic Club, my local club.

“I was going to broach to him how he would feel if I did a run for charity but I didn’t get the chance to have that conversation.

“In September, I decided to run the Scottish Half Marathon in aid of MND Scotland, raising over £800.

“Shortly after the run, I was drawn for the running club’s entry for the London Marathon. It’s an amazing club with amazing people and I can’t emphasise enough how joining and running with Musselburgh and District Athletic Club has helped me over the past year.

“Getting drawn for the club’s London Marathon place was quite staggering and the icing on the cake. Apart from a bit of cycling, I wasn’t really that fit when I started running last year. I could not have imagined myself running a half marathon – let alone a full one. I’m still pinching myself that I’m doing it.

“I started thinking for ways I could use the opportunity to raise more money for MND Scotland and in my training, and through talking to other people that are running for charities, an idea to run ‘Memory Miles’ came up.

“I’ve decided to dedicate one mile to my mum and one to Brian but now I’ve asked the MND Scotland community to contribute 24 other names to add to my running vest in memory of those who have also passed away.”

Iain McWhirter, head of fundraising at MND Scotland, said: “I’d like to thank Charles for sharing both Joan and Brian’s experiences with motor neurone disease.”

To support Charles’s efforts, sponsor him at justgiving.com/fundraising/c-stable