Joan Galloway has been nominated as one of the “inspirational women of the year”. At 76, she has carried out her wedding vows to her husband Stan to the letter. She has spent the past 20 years caring for Stan, 85, who has severe Parkinson’s disease.

“There are times when I wake up in the morning and think: ‘How am I going to cope today?’ says Joan, who lives in Lancashire, England.

“But when I was younger my husband always took care of me. He supported me, financially and emotionally. He was always so kind and loving. Now it’s my turn to do what I can for him.”

Joan spurns professional carers and nurses, aware that Stan would not like strangers to dress or bathe him. “I want to keep on looking after him here in his own home as long as I can. But it is difficult as he weighs 10st and can barely stand up. And I’m getting arthritic myself. It’s a struggle to get him in and out of the bath or to take him to the commode. It’s very hard to see a man who was so energetic and lively come to this.

“Parkinson’s is a very cruel disease in which your body just seizes up. Stan was in RAF bomber aircrew during World War II and was hugely brave. Now, he can barely move and struggles to speak. He’s also almost blind and very hard of hearing, both of which are unrelated to the Parkinson’s, but make it even harder to keep him entertained and cheerful.”

Joan has been nominated for the award, sponsored by the Daily Mail newspaper, by Stan’s lifelong friend from his airforce days, Alan Holmes, who admires her selflessness and devotion to her husband.

Joan says, “I’m really embarrassed to be singled out. Surely I’m just doing what any woman would for the man they love?”

Stan’s problems became noticeable in hos mid-60s before retirement from the family quarrying business. “He began to rush about with a very frantic sort of forward-leaning walk, which is one of the first signs of Parkinson’s,” says Joan.

“We knew something was wrong so he went for tests. But the news that he had Parkinson’s was devastating. For the first five years after diagnosis, he wasn’t too unwell, just had shaky hands and would struggle to turn door knobs or pick things up. But for the past 15 years he really has been very disabled and in the past few months he has got even worse. I now have to liquidise his food and spoon-feed him. I have to make sure he takes all his pills, which give him the ability to turn in his chair and pick up a book, although he is so blind he can only look at the pictures. Our children — two girls and six boys — help out, so that on Wednesday morning I can have my break and go for a swim. One of my sons sits with Stan and always tells me to stay out longer and go round the shops or visit someone. But I know Stan frets constantly when I’m not there.

“He loves having visitors and talking about the old days in the RAF. If friends or relatives can have the patience to sit with him, he really lights up for about five or 10 minutes. Then he gets exhausted and goes back into his own world. As a carer, I’m given government vouchers for four weeks’ respite care every year, which is wonderful. But I only take two weeks. Stan goes into a nursing home and I travel to Cornwall with old friends for a holiday. I’m off again in September and that break helps me to recharge my batteries and keep going. I just pray I have the strength to carry on looking after him as long as possible.”

Inspirational indeed.