His wife Paddie, who he shared his life with for more than 30 years, passed away in December leaving him and their children devastated.

However the loss of their wife and mother has spurred the Kerrigan family on to raise awareness of the condition and this week they handed over a cheque for more £2,000 which will be used in the search for a cure for Lupus.

“Most people won’t know what Lupus is,” explained Bill. “Paddie had Lupus SLE. They call it the trickster because Lupus makes your immune system attack a problem in your body which doesn’t exist. It makes you think you have a condition which you don’t have and your body tries to fight something you don’t have.“In the end the only way to stop it is to turn your immune system off.”

Bill, who himself is waiting on a lung transplant, revealed that after Paddie’s immune system was switched off other medical complications began to occur.

“Paddie had four strokes caused by meninigitis on the brain,” he revealed. “She also had meningitis and lymphoma. In the last year of her life she had a litany of illnesses and from mid April until her death in December, she was in the Royal Victoria Hospital.” Bill and his children have now set out on a mission to educate people about Lupus and its symptoms.

“People can have it and not know they have it,” he said.

“For example Paddie would feel the shakes and shivery like the flu. She would have a hot whiskey and feel fine the next day. She told me she thought she’d had Lupus since she was in her 20s when we both lived in Capetown, Africa. We remembered one day going on a long walk and her legs turning bright pink. We thought it was just the sun, but the next day the marks were gone.”

It was during a holiday in Germany four years ago that Paddie took seriously ill and was diagnosed.

“Sadly for Paddie, it was fatal,” said Bill, “But it’s not always fatal. The last few months were hard on Paddie, she couldn’t swallow and had to be tube fed. She had been such an active and outgoing lady, and was a nurse at Daleview but now she was totally controlled by the condition and on the isolation ward.

“One night she called us into her room and said goodbye to us all. It was so hard for us.”

In lieu of flowers at Paddie’s funeral, the family asked for donations. This money has now been handed to the Northern Ireland Lupus group.

“It felt good to do something in memory of Paddie,” said Bill, “and it has helped us. This money will now be used for research into finding a cure and to raise awareness of the condition.”

Bill is appealing for anyone who would like to know more about the condition or would like to talk to him to contact him on 028 71337740 or Marian at the NI Lupus group on 02840627329.