TRIBUTES have been paid to a “tireless campaigner” who died after losing his battle with a severe muscle-wasting disease.

Robert Watson, 31, from Renfrew, passed away on Friday morning after living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) his entire life.

Despite these obstacles, Robert worked hard to highlights the issue of the lack of hospice care for young adults in Scotland and took the campaign all the way to the Scottish Parliament.

In 2014, Robert was named MDUK’s Scottish campaigner of the year in 2014 and was a trustee of DMD Pathfinders.

Here he played a key role in the creation of the charity, which he believed was critical for raising awareness of adults with DMD.

His devastated mother Eunice, 58, spoke about his final moments battling the disease.

She told the Gazette: “Robert passed away on Friday morning as a result of sepsis. He fought long and hard for the last 10 months to stay with us and died peacefully in his sleep.

“He had infection after infection in the time that he was in hospital and his ninth one was just too much for him to fight off.”

Robert’s funeral has been arranged for Monday, April 3 at 3pm at Paisley’s Woodside Crematorium and then to the Normandy Hotel in Renfrew.

Eunice added: “We are just having family flowers but if anybody wants to make a donation we were wondering if they could make it to the Medicinema in the Children’s Hospital.

“They gave Robert a bit of normality in the 10 months he spent in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital by getting him whatever films he wanted to see.”

Robert was also involved in MDUK Trailblazers, Action Duchenne and DMD Pathfinders.

He was constantly driven to improve services and quality of life of other young disabled adults.

DMD Pathfinders, of which Robert was a trustee, spoke about their sadness over his passing.

The organisation said: “More important than his work was that Robert was our friend.

“Robert was great fun; he was engaging and he never held back in getting involved or sharing his passions.

“He lived a fulfilling life, volunteering and enjoying respite holidays with many friends at Rachel House.

“We were pleased to be able to fight for him as he fought for so many others, in securing a care package when he was in hospital. Sadly he never made it home and we are desperately sad to lose him. But we will always remember him and his legacy will stay with us.”

Robert had many passions including a love of Partick Thistle Football Club and powerchair football gaming.

A spokesman for the football club said: “All at Partick Thistle FC are saddened to learn of the passing of dedicated Jags supporter Robert Watson.”

The community also came out in full force to support Robert in November last year, when a petition was launched to prevent him from being taken into a nursing home

More than 3,000 people signed a petition after he was told his care at home was too expensive and he would be moved into alternative care “against his will”.

Eventually, the social work department had agreed funding for Robert to come home – but he never did get the chance due to his deteriorating health.

Iain McMillan, chairman of the Renfrewshire Heath and Social Care Integration Joint Board worked closely with Robert’s family when they were petitioning for his home care.

He said: “It doesn’t seem too long ago that Robert’s family were campaigning for this.

“I’m sorry to hear the news – it is very tragic.

“His condition was quite severe though and although it is understandable he wanted to be at home, sometimes the equipment and care there isn’t measurable to a hospital.

“He had so much backing during the campaign, and lots of people were touched by his story.

“As he was such a big Partick Thistle fan, he had a lot of supporters on his side.

“Robert was a familiar name to most people in the area and he did a good job highlighting the difficulties people in his situation face. Many people who backed his campaign didn’t know him but did their best to help him. He was well liked in the community and touched a lot of hearts.”