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Patrick Joyce describes himself as an incurable optimist: "incurable" because he has been diagnosed with a terminal illness - Motor Neurone Disease - but an "optimist" because he is upbeat about the short time he has left to live.

Patrick is an artist and has set himself the task of painting 100 portraits of the people who have inspired him before he dies.

It is a real challenge, as Motor Neurone Disease attacks the very wiring that takes the signals from your brain to your muscles.

Sufferers gradually lose control of all their voluntary movements - the ability to walk, talk, eat and breathe gradually disappears.

Eventually sufferers die from respiratory failure, and it can happen very quickly.

50 per cent of people die within 14 months, and there is no known cure.

Patrick was diagnosed in 2008 when he was just 37 years old.

His painting was not enough to pay the bills, so he worked as a plumber to support his partner Kate and their two young children.

Matthew Bannister spoke to Patrick from his home in South West England, and asked him about the moment he first realised something was wrong.