Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Marcus armed and ready for Etape Caledonia handbike challenge

Marcus on his handbike.
Marcus on his handbike.

A cyclist who was paralysed from the waist down by a rare medical condition is to become the first person to compete in one of Scotland’s toughest competitions on a hand-powered bike.

On Sunday Marcus Brook will join thousands of other cyclists to take part in the Marie Curie Etape Caledonia in Pitlochry.

Two years ago Marcus was an avid mountain biker and motorcyclist but in September 2014 his life was changed forever when he suffered a spinal stroke just hours after completing a 30km cycle run.

An abnormal artery suddenly began pumping blood into his spine, crushing the cord. Fortunately, a vein ruptured, preventing any more blood reaching his spinal cord.

Had the bleeding continued, Marcus would have suffocated to death once the blood reached his neck and switched off his diaphragm.

He said: “That night I was told that I would never walk again as I was paralyzed from the waist down.

“Devastated isn’t a strong enough word for how I felt. I could not imagine a life without being active – I just saw it all as pointless. What use was I going to be to anybody? I was just a burden to my family and I just didn’t want to know.”

However as the 49-year-old recovered he was given hope as he learned about devices which could help others in his position lead a more active lifestyle.

He has since founded a charity to supply specialist wheelchairs, called paragolfers, which allow users to rise into a standing position, and on Sunday Marcus and six friends will be raising funds for the organisation.

The father-of -two said: “We are fundraising to buy another paragolfer and a trailer to transport them to wherever they are needed by wheelchair users.

“We are hoping to raise a further £5,000 via the Etape and a total of £20,000 this year. We have already raised £42,000 in total since April last year.”

He added: “A couple of friends had done the Caledonia so, like an idiot, I thought why not. It’s the Daddy and to be the first to complete it on a handbike had a nice ring to it.

“I am reliably informed by the organisers that nobody has entered the Etape in a handbike before. I of course now realise that’s because 1200m of climbing and 81 miles is a tall order.

“Getting up the Schiehallion will be hell but I want to be there doing it more than anything – after all I shouldn’t be anywhere at all.”