A woman who suffers with the same disease as Stephen Hawking has spoken of how sad she feels that the world has lost “an inspirational genius”.

Jackie Higginson, 54, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease 12 years ago.

A single mother of four children at the time, Jackie’s life was turned upside down when she was told she would only have six years to live.

Twelve years later, she married her husband, Ray Higginson, acquired two step-children and taught Eddie Redmayne how to act as somebody with motor neurone disease in his Oscar winning role as Stephen Hawking in the Theory of Everything. 

Jackie, who lives in South Ockendon, did not know Eddie was a famous actor and was surprised when she saw how much critical acclaim the movie gained.

She said: “I didn’t even know who Eddie Redmayne was, they just told me he was doing a film about Stephen Hawking.

“I thought he was a young student doing a student film!”

Jackie was proud to work on the Theory of Everything as it was a film about a man who inspired many people with her disease.

She said: “He was a inspiration to those of us with the disease.

“If he can live as long as he did then there is hope for the rest of us.

“The world is going to be a sadder place without him - a man with a mind like that, he was an inspirational genius.”

Jackie’s youngest son, Alex Reid-Ward, 23, also from South Ockendon, will be doing the London Marathon on April 22 to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

If you would like to donate to Alex’s cause, you can do so on his JustGiving page at https:// www.justgiving.com/fundraising/alex-reid-ward.

Stephen Hawking died in the early hours of Wednesday morning aged 76.

He was a world-renowned scientist who is notable for his theory on black holes.

He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease aged only 22 years old while a student at Cambridge University and lived with the crippling disease for 54 years.