A "wonderfully kind" father-of-two who was fighting motor neurone disease (MND) has become the youngest person to die after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK.

Craig Ruston, from Kettering, died on Monday morning, six days after he became ill with a chest infection that was confirmed as COVID-19.

The 45-year-old was among 14 further people to have died in England by Tuesday, bringing the UK's total number of coronavirus-related deaths to 71.

He had been writing a popular blog about his battle with MND, a degenerative and terminal neurological condition he was diagnosed with in 2018.

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The footwear designer's wife Sally informed his followers and friends on Tuesday of his death, saying: "My amazing Craig passed away yesterday morning at 6.20am. We are truly heartbroken."


She said his "fight with MND was not ready to be over", despite doctors giving him two years to live after his 2018 diagnosis.

"Craig was not ready to go," she said.

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"Still doing everything in his power to raise awareness and fight the fight for MND."

She added that he wanted to donate his brain to the Oxford Brain Bank to be used for MND research when he died, but because he died from coronavirus this cannot happen.

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"He'd give anything in the name of research," she said.

"Sadly this can no longer happen. How dare this virus take this from Craig."

His wife said he was "a wonderfully kind and caring person...he welcomed everyone".

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She said: "There were no airs and graces with Craig. He loved the world. He absorbed the world.

"He was one of the most intelligent people I know that would absorb information and could somehow explain just about anything.

"Science was his thing, amongst others."

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