'He desperately wants to see our son go to school'

The couple celebrated Kevin's 40th with a trip to New York where he first started feeling unwell

A woman is fundraising for her husband to receive stem cell treatment in the Cayman Islands after he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).

Kevin Coley, 43, from Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, received the diagnosis on Monday.

His "devastated" wife said he had been to the doctors "at least seven times" in the past three years.

The family aims to raise £33,000 within six weeks for the treatment which is unavailable in the UK.

Kirsty Coley said: "We don't think there's going to be a cure [immediately] but we're hoping we can prolong [his life] enough so that when there is a cure, we're just in time to get it."

Mr and Mrs Coley have been together for six years and had son Jesse 19 months ago

The NHS describe some symptoms of MND:

• Weakness in your ankle or leg which can make you trip or struggle to climb stairs

• Slurred speech

• A weak grip

• Weight loss

• Muscle cramps and twitches

Mrs Coley said her husband just wants to be able to do things like taking their son riding on his pony Don Don

Mr Coley first started noticing symptoms when the couple went to New York to celebrate his 40th birthday.

Mrs Coley said: "He hadn't been there before.

"It was nice to see how much he enjoyed it, but he got tired a lot, moaning that he had a cold and a sore throat so he took frequent breaks to go back to the hotel for a nap."

When they got back to the UK, the cold got worse and on visiting the doctors Mr Coley was told "it was just a common cold".

However, Mrs Coley said in the course of the next three years his symptoms became much worse and he was "deteriorating every day".

The money raised will cover the cost of Mr Coley's treatment abroad, with any money left over paying for his care

"His voice started going - it's more or less completely gone now - and over the last 10 months he's lost a lot of weight and then he recently started tripping over things and getting really depressed."

Mr Coley was referred to a speech therapist the second time they went to the doctors, but his wife said it "didn't help".

On receiving the MND diagnosis she said: "I never expected it to be this serious.

"It frightened me to death, and it's turned our lives upside down."

Mrs Coley is fundraising which she said was helping her to keep busy so she did not "dwell on it".

Mr Coley wants to be able to see Jesse go to nursery

"We've had amazing support from friends, the family are still in shock at the moment, but I'm sure they'll definitely support us and the community has been amazing, we're overwhelmed," she said.

"We desperately want to give Kevin more time to live because he desperately wants to see our son Jesse go to nursery and then start school.

"We want to be there as a family and just want to spend as much time together as possible", she added.

Mrs Coley said she had asked Bromford housing association to move them to a bungalow as the steep stairs in their house was too dangerous for her husband to climb

She said they hoped the stem cell treatment would prolong her husband's life, and that it would help with his balance and help him to put on weight and regain some of his strength.

Mrs Coley said she "won't give up fighting for him".

"I will not stop. He's my best friend, my soul mate, my everything and I will not give up the fight."

The Go Fund Me campaign has raised more than £3,500 in two days.