A WIDOWER has dedicated his life to raising funds for research into a devastating illness which killed his wife.

Michael Shepherd says an 'army of supporters' has helped him raise more than £8,500 so far, with further fundraising events planned for this summer.

He says he wants to help others avoid going through the nightmare he endured after his wife Shirley became ill with the degenerative brain disease Progressive Supranuclear Palsy(PSP), by supporting the PSP Association research programme.

He also wants to raise awareness of the debilitating illness, which claimed the lives of film star Dudley Moore and journalist Nigel Dempster.

He revealed he is also setting up a support group in Pocklington for victims, and their carers and families, from across the region.

Mr Shepherd, 75, of Sherbuttgate Road South, Pocklington, said his wife had been fit and healthy until the illness began to strike her down several years ago.

“We were walking in a park at Whitby when she suddenly fell over backwards,” he said. “We thought she had tripped and thought nothing more of it.”

Perhaps a year later, she fell over again, and then she developed a noticeably unsteady gait. Doctors were baffled at first, suggesting at one stage she might have a psychiatric illness, but eventually a medic diagnosed PSP.

Shirley became progressively worse, cared for by Michael at their home until he tore a ligament in his back and she had to go into a care home in Osbaldwick, York, where she died in April last year. “It is a very distressing condition, which is often misdiagnosed,” he said.

He said his fundraising had been supported by congregations at several churches, including Shiptonthorpe, Nunburnholme, Pocklington Parish and Methodist Churches and St George's Methodist Church in York.

MICHAEL has several events planned to boost funds and raise awareness of PSP this summer.

He is organising 'Music for a summer afternoon,' featuring the Merrybanks Male Voice Choir from Haxby, followed by strawberries, at Burnby Hall Rooms in Pocklington on Sunday August 22.

He is also holding a charity stall in York Hospital foyer on Thursday August 12 and says the launch meeting of the PSP support group will take place at Burnby Hall Rooms between 10am and 12 noon on Friday July 2.

For more information on PSP, call the association on 01327 322410 or go to www.pspeur.org