A brave battler who helped to change life for the better

Morag and Willie Steven said their son Duncan had paved the way for other children with severe learning difficulties.

The 22-year-old, who hit the headlines when he was just aged five, passed away earlier this week due to medical complications. He was among the first children in Scotland with severe special needs to attend a mainstream school.

His parents, backed by an Evening News campaign, won a hard-fought battle with Edinburgh council in 1993, allowing him to attend Liberton Primary School with his twin brother Kenny. Duncan's experience was regarded as an experiment to other councils, and proved disabled youngsters could cope in mainstream education.

Morag, 52, who works in conflict negotiation, said: "When he went to Liberton Primary, not everyone thought it was going to work, but he showed them. He showed them with his personality and his enjoyment of life."

The family moved into their Liberton bungalow in June 1993, but missed the start of the academic year due to the dispute with the city education department.

However, after an apology from the department's chairwoman into the way the affair was handled, Duncan was able to join his twin brother in October that year, after the school had fitted wheelchair ramps and hired an extra teacher.

Morag said that, despite being born with severe disabilities and using a wheelchair, Duncan was an active youngster and counted swimming and playing music among his hobbies.

She said: "He was born very ill and with a lot of difficulties. He had a lack of oxygen before birth and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, as well as being registered blind and having severe epilepsy.

"He had lots of health problems but, despite that, he had a very active life. He was very outgoing, very sociable and that's the reason we sent him to a mainstream school.

His brother Donald, 19, a film studies student at Glasgow University, added: "He was the most popular guy in school, everyone got to meet someone who wouldn't normally be able to go to a normal school. That was important. Everyone loved him."

Dad Willie, 54, a business unit manager for Johnson and Johnson Medical, said: "The other kids just accepted Duncan as a classmate. They don't have the same perceptions or attitudes about disability that some adults have."

Duncan managed to complete all seven years of primary school, and even attended a year of Liberton High School, despite a period of illness at the time.

He went on to attend the Royal Blind School and boarded at the institution for a period until he was 20, when he left to live in his own flat.

With the help of Visualise Scotland, he was able to live with a flatmate in Leith, and was helped with day-to-day activities by dedicated on-call staff.

Last month, Duncan's health took a turn for the worse and he was taken into the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. On Monday, his condition worsened, and he died on Tuesday, his close-knit family with him at the end.

Hundreds of family and friends are expected to say a final farewell to Duncan in the Main Chapel of Mortonhall Crematorium on Monday at 2pm.