A BRAVE father who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease three years ago has inspired friends and family to raise a staggering £100,000 to fund new research into the muscle-wasting condition.

Wheelchair-bound Wayne Summat, 50, and his wife Kay yesterday launched the unique study which willl, for the first time, look at whether cells inside muscles can be manipulated to reverse the debilitating effects.

Mr Summat's daughter Maddie wrote letters to the chairmen of the UK's biggest companies asking for donations and raised £4,000, while 15 of Mr Summat's colleagues took part in a charity triathlon.

Former England internationals Kerry Dixon and Dave Beasant joined former TOWIE star Mark Wright at a charity football match which raised £8,000.

Despite having to be fed through a tube, only being able to speak with a whisper and needing a machine to breathe at night, Mr Summat, of Trevor Road, Woodford Green, still works full-time as an operations director for finance firm CVC Cordatus and will take part in the research.

Speaking after the launch of the study at Queen Mary BioEnterprises Innovation Centre in Mile End Road, Mr Summat said "The generosity of people and organisations has made this pioneering study possible and will hopefully bring us one step closer towards our ultimate aim of finding a cure for this insidious disease."

Wife Kay, 49, added: "The day was so emotional to see the result of everyone's hard work. It was inspiring and amazing.

"We have gone from a very active family to not so active. Our daughter Maddie now wants to go into nursing or medical research because of her experiences."

The rest of the £250,000 funding for the project was provided by the charity run by the Barts and The London NHS Trust, which runs Whipps Cross University Hospital.

Consultant Neurologist Aleksandar Radunovic said: "Wayne is a massive advocate for research which is so important for scientific breakthroughs - we simply couldn’t do it without patients’ support.

"Wayne is not only putting his body on the line to improve treatment, he’s also inspired many people to give generously to this important cause."