'I will walk to the ends of the earth to help fight this killer'

But when Neil was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) just two months after the birth of their son Oscar, all their dreams were taken from them. He died 18 months later, aged only 34.

Today, two years after his death, Louise is continuing to honour the promise she made him to fight to raise awareness of the devastating degenerative condition for which there is currently no cure.

And despite the frustrations of trying to have her voice heard in a world where most people, including many medics, know virtually nothing about MND, today she is even more determined to make a difference.

With a trek along the Great Wall of China, an innovative fundraising campaign, a book, a documentary, charity balls and guest speaking all on her horizon, the 37-year-old former George Watson's College pupil has surprised even herself.

"I used to be scared of my own shadow," she smiles. "Neil would always push me to do things, to make me more confident. I have no doubt that somehow he is behind all of this."

The wind rips through the trees, the grass on Arthur's Seat is flattened and dark clouds suggest a heavy downpour is likely, yet Louise is not deterred from taking a planned late-afternoon walk up the Holyrood landmark.

It has become part of her weekly routine since she signed up to trek long sections of the Great Wall of China in May - a gruelling ten-day challenge that will see her climb as many as 1200 steep steps along the wall.

If she isn't making her way up Arthur's Seat, she is hiking in the Pentland Hills, and every morning she climbs the stairs in her south Edinburgh home 30 times, usually with a weighted backpack, in a bid to increase her fitness before the trek which will raise awareness for MND research.

"There will be 22 of us doing the trek, most of whom have a strong emotional link with MND," she says. "I actually met a couple of MND widows recently, one of whom is the same age as me. It was great just to talk with them as they understood exactly what I was saying. Very few people can."

Louise needs to raise a massive 2995 in sponsorship to be eligible for the trek, half of which has already been ticked off owing to an ingenious fundraising tool.

Platt's Bar is a website where people can buy Neil a drink - a "posthumous pint" as Louise puts it - by selecting their tipple from a menu, along with bar snacks. A bill is totalled, payment is made and all the money goes to Louise's fundraising.

It is a genuinely unique concept with applications that also allow people to buy Neil a drink when they are out in a "real" pub, therefore including him in a round as they enjoy a night out with family or friends.

"A lot of people were leaving messages for Neil on our website," explains Louise. "So I just thought this would be a nice way to remember him, and for those who knew him, an opportunity to remember all the good times we had in the pub.

"I realise nobody has a lot of money at the moment, so this is just asking people for a little.

"Neil's favourite drink was a pint of Guinness, but he was also the sort of person who would appear with a round of tequilas for everyone. The bar has really helped with the fundraising. I've even had a guy from Massachusetts buy Neil a pint, but it would be great if we could spread the word even further across the world."

There is still a long way to go until Louise reaches her sponsorship target, but every day she is drumming up new ideas as to how she can get MND "out there" and help raise awareness.

When Neil was dying, he insisted he wanted his final months recorded so drafted in the help of two friends, Bafta-winning film-maker Morag McKinnon and her colleague Emma Davie. The pair spent hours in Yorkshire where Neil, an architect, and Louise, a former Oxford Street shop window dresser, were living.

The footage is now being turned into a documentary, commissioned by Channel 4, that tell Neil's story to the world, just as he had wanted.

As she promised him she would, Louise is also writing a book about their life and how it was blighted by MND, which had killed both Neil's father and grandfather before him. It was a condition he always had a slight chance of inheriting, but hoped never would.

The disease progressively attacks the upper and lower motor neurones, which leads to wasting of muscles, causing loss of mobility, difficulties with speech, swallowing and breathing.

Louise reveals that yet another member of Neil's family, this time a female, has recently be diagnosed with the condition.

When it comes to Oscar, Louise and Neil's bubbly, cheeky and mischievous three-year-old, the future is uncertain. As with Neil, there is no guarantee Oscar will develop MND, but again, just as with Neil, he might.

"We spoke at great length about whether or not we should have children," explains Louise. "We hoped that Neil would never develop MND, but thought that if he did, it would be like most people that get it, when they are around 50, not in his 30s.

"I just have to hope there will be hope for the people with the condition by the time I have to explain all of this to Oscar, and that he will never actually need to be saved."

When Louise leaves Edinburgh for China in May it will be the first time she has left Oscar since he was born. The blond tearaway, the double of his father, will spend the time with Louise's parents, who she relies on to help her raise him while she juggles the pressures of everyday life.

While she is looking forward to the challenge, to spending time alone and focusing her efforts on what will test her physically and mentally, she knows she will miss him greatly.

"Oscar is very much like Neil," she says. "He has his sense of humour - a real mischievous streak. He is obsessed with cars, loves to take photographs and to run around.

"He knows his daddy is dead and every night he blows him a kiss. I give him one from me, and one from Neil.

"Most of the time I am OK, but there is still the odd day when you get affected by self pity, mainly because it is so hard to get the awareness of MND out there.

"I don't push it with people though. Quite frankly, I preferred my life before I heard about MND. People do tell me I need to stop all of this and focus on myself instead. I know there will come a point where I am going to have to have more of a life, but I feel a weight of responsibility to do this.

"There is nothing glamorous about MND, nothing sexy or cute, and there are no survivors to tell their stories.

"So, while I will slow down when I come back from China, I cannot give up now. If I don't do this, who will?"

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