MORE than 160 pupils at a top city school are set to take part in a run to raise funds for a charity which helped their schoolmate after he suffered a horrific spinal injury in a rugby accident.
The boys at Merchiston Castle School have joined forces to raise money for Hearts & Balls, which supported both the teenager and his devastated family in the wake of the accident.
The school's headmaster, who visits the teenager in hospital around
once a week, said the teenager's parents had been "destroyed by grief" following the accident, but were now concentrating on the future and their son's recovery.
The Merchiston pupil, who the Evening News has chosen not to name, has been left in a wheelchair after the injury on September 13 last year at Inverleith when a scrum collapsed during a match with Stewart's Melville College.
The pupil – who turned 18 on Christmas Eve – suffered a dislocated vertebrae and is still recovering in Glasgow's Southern General Hospital, in the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit.
His friends and teachers make regular trips to Glasgow to visit him and have now decided to enter the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run to raise funds for the charity which has been helping him and his family through the ordeal, as well as counselling pupils at the school.
One of his friends, Patrick Costello, 17, appealed for fellow pupils to join him in the 10k run on May 3 and said he was overwhelmed when within weeks more than 160 had signed up, along with 20 teachers.
He said: "This is such a worthwhile cause and he is such a good friend to many people in the year.
"He is very happy that we are doing it, although I think he was a bit shocked at first to find out how many people are doing it."
Headmaster Andrew Hunter said everyone at the school "salutes the courage" of the injured boy and his family.
"It's been horrendous for the whole family," he said.
"Hearts & Balls were in Merchiston the week after this accident counselling coaches and boys. They have been remarkable, as has the whole of the rugby community around the world.
"The quality of the care he has received has also been absolutely remarkable and I would like to salute the medics."
He added that the teenager had a "marvellous" Christmas, managing to go home for periods on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He also had a birthday party to celebrate his 18th. Although he is in a wheelchair at the moment, he is said to be recovering well.
The team of 161 pupils hopes to raise the biggest amount ever by a team participating in the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run and has estimated it will raise around £10,000.
The total figure raised by the boys will then be matched by a parent of a pupil at the school, who has offered the generous donation.
Mr Hunter, who will also take part in the run, added: "What Patrick is doing is a remarkable testament to the attitude of him as a young man. This is exactly what we want to see from a young person, this sense of independence and good leadership."
The injured Merchiston pupil played in the First XV and is a former Scottish international at under-18 level.
