A WOMAN who lost her husband to a devastating and rare degenerative disease has spoken about how his death inspired her to become a nurse.

Julie Sala, from Great Harwood, saw the love of her life Santino pass away aged just 39 in 2001 after a four-year fight with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

He had been diagnosed with the disease in 1997 and was left unable to walk, talk, eat or drink and struggling to breathe properly.

Wife Julie, who met Santino in Sicily, Italy, where the couple lived, cared for him and said she has used their ordeal to help others living with MND.

Mum-of-three Julie said: “I met Santino in Sicily, Italy, where we were living at the time. We were then left devastated when he was diagnosed with MND aged 35 in 1997.

“Our children were aged two, three and four when he was diagnosed.

“I then looked after him and cared for him from the day of his diagnosis to his death four years later in 2001.

“The disease left him unable to eat and swallow, whilst he had to breathe through a ventilator and was only able to move his eye.

“Santino had a fully-functioning mind but was trapped in a useless body.”

“It is an incredibly debilitating condition.”

Following Santino’s death, Julie then moved back to Great Harwood, where she got a job as a carer and then studied to become a nurse at University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN).

After she finished the course, she worked as a staff nurse at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and at Clitheroe Community Hospital.

She then worked for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) as a district nurse in Colne, before getting her dream job recently as an MND nurse specialist at Royal Preston Hospital.

Julie said: “I really enjoy my job and have certainly used Santino’s death as an inspiration to help others with MND."

And Julie has organised a fundraising walk for The Motor Neurone Disease Association with fellow nurse Tracy Sconce, a clinical team leader from ELHT Colne District nurses.

The 30-mile walk, now in its third year, takes place on September 23 this year from Royal Preston Hospital to Colne Health Centre.

The event, which will this year feature 35 staff from Lancashire Teaching Hospitals trust and ELHT , including nurses and a consultant, has raised £12,500 since it first started.

Julie said she is hoping that more can be raised this time around than the £7,500 last year.

She said: “This walk is in memory of a fantastic husband and father who didn’t get the privilege of seeing his son’s first day at school or his daughter’s graduation.

“MND is such a cruel, terrible disease which is fatal and has no known cure, leaving people unable to walk, talk or feed themselves.”

MND, which leads to muscle weakness affects up to 5,000 adults in the UK at any one time, which means it is considered as a relatively rare disease.

To take part in the walk, contact Julie on 01772 522545 or email julie.sala@lthtr.nhs.uk .