AFTER 30 years in the fire service, Trevor Moyce was looking forward to retirement.

He retired in 2016 but just months later a shock diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease (MND) turned his life upside down.

Now, at just 54, he has endured the most difficult few months of his life and an unfortunate series of medical episodes has led to him in a wheelchair, unable to speak and requiring two live-in carers round the clock.

It is not the retirement he and wife Louise, 43, had planned.

Now, efforts are being made by the family to raise £40,000 to build an extension on the family home in Wootton High Street to provide an accessible bedroom and wet room for Trevor, who requires lots of equipment to help with his day to day needs.

Currently, his medical equipment and bed are in the living area of the family home, which naturally has a huge impact on his youngest two children, Phoebe, 11, and Toby, nine.

Trevor's oldest two children, Daisy Reed and Holly Graham, are leading the campaign to raise the money and have set up a crowdfunding Just Giving page, where people can donate.

Daisy said: "Dad is now completely disabled and in a wheelchair but can't mobilise it himself as his arms and hands are too weak. He has two carers 24/7 and clearly this has a massive impact on the family home. Building the extension would help restore some normality.

"Dad's youngest children are only nine and 11 years old and he has remained incredibly strong for them. The symptoms of MND have developed rapidly and he continues to deal with every stage so admirably. This diagnosis is impossible to fully accept and forever throws new hurdles to face."

Trevor dedicated his career to the fire service, working his way up to Newport station manager, before retirement.

He was diagnosed with MND in January 2017 — a rare degenerative disease that affects as little as two in 100,000 people and has no cure.

The first signs were in his weakened hands and wrists, but the situation changed dramatically in October 2017, when his diaphragm weakened so severely that he was taken to hospital in a medical emergency and spent more than four months in intensive care, right over Christmas and his youngest children's birthdays.

In the fight to keep Trevor alive, he had to have a ventilated tracheostomy, which left him able to breathe, but unable to speak.

He has learnt to use Eyegaze Edge to communicate, generating speech by looking at control keys displayed on a screen.

To help the Moyce family, donate at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/trevormoyce.