Donations flooded into Gordon Aikman’s JustGiving page after he wrote candidly about having Motor Neurone Disease in The Scotsman .

Aikman's article describes how his outlook on life changed after he was diagnosed with MND and told that he only has a few years to live.

"Before all of this, I lived to work," writes the former Labour party policy adviser, who now works on the anti-Scottish independence Better Together campaign.

"It is hard to switch off. You sacrifice a lot. I saw less of my friends and family. Is that healthy? Of course not, but you justify it."

"When you are told you are dying you face a choice: you can wallow in self-pity, get angry, seek answers where there are none – or you can make the most of what you've got."

"I now live from day to day, week to week. I don't get too far ahead of myself: who knows how long I will be able to walk, feed myself and breathe unaided?"

"Scientists may be far from a cure," he writes. "But they know people with MND do not live long: half die within 14 months of diagnosis."

"MND patients in parts of Scotland are being asked to pay for some of the most basic care they need. I was also shocked to find out that [...] the country's seven specialist MND nurses are dependent for more than 80 per cent of their funds on charitable donations to MND Scotland."