Essex nurse’s ‘heroic’ final act after devastating MS battle

Linda Robertson, 59, lived for 17 years with multiple sclerosis (MS) before passing away at Tall Trees Care Home in Colchester on October 23.  

She also developed a rare form of dementia believed to be linked to her MS.

Her daughter, Annie Spooner, said: "Mum was diagnosed with MS when she was just 42 years old.

"She basically lived with it by herself.

"One of the things that always struck us about mum was that she was always determined, literally all the way up until death, that she was never going to end up in a wheelchair because she couldn’t bear the thought of it.

"To give her credit, she actually never did end up in a wheelchair."

Nurse - Linda Robertson (centre) pictured with her daughter Annie (right) had cared for other MS patients while working as a nurse (Image: Annie Spooner)

Family - Ms Robertson leaves her daughters and son, and her two grandchildren (pictured) (Image: Annie Spooner)

Ms Robertson began with relapsing remitting MS, which meant periods of illness and mobility issues followed by recovery.

A former nurse, she had to retire after her diagnosis.

In 2023, her family began noticing cognitive and speech difficulties, and she moved into a care home. She had help to wash and dress, and was unable to read or write.

Ms Spooner said: "Mum used to be a nurse, and for the vast majority of her career, she was a nurse in a nursing home and she actually used to nurse people that had MS.

"And funnily enough, the home that she ended up in, Tall Trees, was actually the home that she last worked in as a nurse.

"When she was diagnosed with MS, she knew exactly what was in store for her."

Family - Ms Robertson, with her daughters Annie and Molly (Image: Annie Spooner)

Determined to help others, Ms Robertson registered with the MS Society to donate her brain for research.

She was later diagnosed with a rare form of dementia so uncommon that her consultant had only seen it once before in 30 years.

Ms Spooner said: “It’s very rare, and so it became really important to donate this brain in the hope that they can research from it and perhaps one day would be able to cure MS, and stop somebody else going through the miserable decline that she went through, which I thought was a heroic act.

"I’m really pleased to say that we did actually manage to successfully get her wishes granted."

Memory - The family hope to continue Ms Robertson's passion of trying to cure MS (Image: Annie Spooner)

In her mother’s memory, Ms Spooner and her sister each launched fundraising appeals for MS, before launching a Just Giving page to support MS research.

Ms Spooner, who has run her baking business Annie’s Cake Creations for more than four years, is offering a cake worth up to £100 as a thank you to one randomly selected donor.

She said: "We want to raise money in hopes that we could continue on my mum’s passion of trying to cure MS.

"I think we watched things that children and family members should never, ever had to see of their mum. If we can stop somebody else from going through the stuff my mum did and the stuff we had to witness, then what an amazing tribute to my mum that would be."

To support the fundraiser in Ms Robertson’s memory, visit ‘Annie’s fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis Society’ on Just Giving.