A young mum given just months to live has defied the odds and is now urging people not to take life for granted.
Jennifer Bell, 29, was devastated after being told she had motor neurone disease and was given just months to live, last March.
However, the plucky Scot has defied the odds to live to see her baby girl Kacey take her first steps and cheer on her eldest, Georgia, eight, in a dance contest.
Jennifer, from Milngavie, near Glasgow, put her symptoms down to the stress of being a busy mum and full-time student when Kacey was just months old, reports the Daily Record.
She said: "When I was diagnosed, I was told I had nine months to live. That was almost 12 months ago and I'm still here.
"It was important to me to see my daughter's first birthday, to see her walking and to see my other daughter's dance competition.
"So I would say, in general, it's made me just not take life for granted and to enjoy every day. It has taught me that tomorrow is never guaranteed."
Jennifer was in the final year of becoming a nurse at Glasgow Caledonian University and seven months pregnant when her symptoms started to show.
By the time she gave birth her speech was slurred, but Jennifer's doctor told her this was down to hormones following her pregnancy and told her to return in eight weeks.
However, after going back to her GP, she was given a referral for a neurology appointment. Because it would take weeks, the family paid for a private MRI scan at Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow.
Jennifer was told on March 26 at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary that she had MND and was given nine months to live.
Refusing to let her diagnosis control her life, Jennifer graduated from Caledonian University with a BSc in learning disability nursing in October and set about making a bucket list.
She's now ticked off all her dreams, including swimming with dolphins and seeing her dad's house in Crete.
She said: "At 28 I thought I had my whole life ahead of me. You don't know when your life is going to end.
"When I was told I had nine months I did my bucket list and I've now ticked off everything, so I need to make a new one!"
Jennifer has also raised £15,000 for MND charity in a bid to find a cure for the terminal illness.
In an emotional YouTube message which she put together for MND Scotland's Cornflower Ball held at the Hilton hotel in Glasgow on March 6, Jennifer urged people to dig deep and thanked them for their support.
The clip includes a montage of a beaming Jennifer and Georgia together in New York alongside a picture holding Kacey at her first birthday party.
In the video she says: "Everyone with MND has to keep fighting, keep positive, keep raising awareness and keep on fundraising.
"Thank you to everyone for being here, for your support and please dig deep and spend as much money as you can so we can find a cure."
Jennifer's friends will also climb up Ben Nevis in September to raise money for Marie Curie, who help care for her.
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