A Fife man whose death certificate was prepared after he was involved in a horrific cycling accident last year confounded medical experts when he walked his daughter down the aisle.
Ali McGill (51), of Moray Park, Dalgety Bay, broke his neck and back and fractured his skull in a collision during his first ever cycling race a year ago.
Yet he defied experts’ fears that he would die, or at best never walk again, and on Saturday friends and family spontaneously applauded as he walked arm in arm with his daughter Laura at her wedding ceremony in the Keavil House Hotel, Crossford.
Laura (27), of Calais View, Dunfermline, said there was cheering and a “lot of tears” at the wedding.
“Everyone was so proud of my dad,” she said. “I had planned to get married last August but postponed the wedding because I was determined that my dad should be present.”
Her father had just joined west Fife club Sandy Wallace Cycles and was competing in his first time trial event at Cleish on June 3 last year when he was in a collision with another cyclist.
Knocked out cold, he was immediately attended by first aiders and a doctor and was flown by air ambulance to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where experts feared he wouldn’t survive.Death certificate”His death certificate was ready to be signed,” said Ali’s wife Kath.
“After spending the night there he was transferred to the intensive care unit at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, where he spent two weeks.
“It was feared Ali would be paralysed from the neck down but during his six months in hospital he slowly recovered some mobility.
“We were not sure if he would survive but he received great treatment at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow where they built a frame for him.
“He got lots of physiotherapy and is now home but he still has a long way to go,” Kath added.
“It was very emotional seeing him walk Laura down the aisle.”
Laura described her father’s recovery as “a long process.”
“He’s doing really well,” she added. “He is now able to walk, though he has only limited movement in his arms. He’s getting physiotherapy, goes swimming and is now able to feed himself.”
Even before his accident things hadn’t been going too well for Ali.
Less than a year earlier he had been made redundant from his job as a test technician at Agilent Technologies in South Queensferry and had been trying, in vain, to get another job.
“It was one thing after another for him,” Laura said. “But hopefully things are looking up for him now.”DelightedLaura works as a nurse at Inglis Veterinary Hospital in Dunfermline and staff there are delighted.
“Laura is a very special person,” said head nurse Leeann Burton.
“She took a month’s compassionate leave after her dad’s accident but after that she never missed a shift, even though she used to travel to see him at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow every day.
“In all that time she never once showed any signs of strain. She was never grumpy or miserable and seemed to take it all in her stride. She was really brave.”
Leeann added, “The wedding was really moving for everyone, especially when her dad got a big round of applause.
“Laura is very proud of him and we’re all proud of her.”
But, like any dad at his daughter’s wedding, no one was more proud than Ali himself, who said, “It was a great day and I really surprised myself by being able to walk as well as I did.”
The day was made even better for Laura and groom, postman Evan Donaldson (28), by winning £1000 from a radio competition.
The competition was to find Britain’s Hardest Working Feet and the story of how Laura had travelled every day for months to see her dad in Glasgow, yet still managed to stay bright and cheery at her work, touched the judges’ hearts.