Motor Neurone dad receives £11k to help him spend final Christmas at home

Laura Francis said the kindness and help from strangers felt like true "Christmas spirit"

An appeal to fulfil a terminally ill man's wish to come home for Christmas has raised more than £11,000.

Father-of two, Alex Francis, from Somerset, is in the final stages of motor neurone disease and moved back home from a hospice on Christmas Eve.

Donations have paid for a downstairs wet room to allow him to spend his last days at home with his family,

His wife Laura said his wish would not have come true without the kindness of strangers and their "Christmas spirit".

Prior to coming home on Friday, Mr Francis was being cared for at Dorothy House Hospice in Somerset.

He received respite care at the hospice so the palliative care team could help stabilise his breathing and medication.

When his condition deteriorated, he was unable to use the stair lift so his family built a downstairs wet room so that he could stay at home instead.

Alex Francis was emotional playing board games with his family on Christmas Day, his wife Laura said

His wife Laura Francis said life had been so much easier for her husband at home and the family had enjoyed playing board games together at Christmas.

"It's made a massive difference," she said.

"Christmas Day was lovely.

"We had a meal with my parents and our best friends, and one of our friends had sent us a board game, so we set it up so Alex could play with us as well.

"We all helped and were his hands. He was quite emotional."

Laura and Alex enjoyed walking in the Alps before he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease

She said their children Lois, 12, and Jago, 10, were thrilled to have their dad home and to ensure his final wish "to pass away at home with his family around him" would come true.

"He has used the new wet room every day so far which is amazing, as before he couldn't have a shower everyday because it was a lot of hard work," she added.

The family has raised £11,315 to date exceeding a target to raise £10,000 for the wet room.

Mrs Francis said the extra money raised would go towards building a downstairs extension so the family could enjoy a communal space in the house in whatever time they have left.