Fife woman Rose Heath is living with the pain of all four of her children developing an incurable disease.
Son Hunter died of Huntingdon’s disease in November aged 50, and Rose’s three daughters are all fighting the same condition.
Eldest daughter Kathleen, 52, and Janet, 49, are in separate care homes where their conditions are deteriorating.
Youngest daughter Marie, 43, has no symptoms so far but Rose is living in fear about what will happen to her in the future.
Rose told the Sunday Mail that Huntingdon’s is “the cruellest disease known to man”.
She opened her heart about the hereditary disease and spoke about her worries for her seven grandchildren who do not yet know whether they have it.
The degenerative brain disorder causes severe changes to a person’s thinking process, involuntary physical movements and a high risk of potential mental health issues.
There is no cure and people diagnosed need 24-hour care as the disease progresses.
As many as 1,100 people in Scotland are living with Huntingdon’s, but an estimated 5,000 are at risk.
Rose, 72, and her family have raised more than £4,000 for the Scottish Huntingdon’s Association, the voluntary organisation which has been supporting them for many years.
Rose’s first husband Alfred was a carrier of the defective Huntingdon’s gene which is passed down from generation to generation.
People cannot be tested for it until they are 18.