WHEN Brian Thomson plunged 40ft from a balcony, doctors warned he would never recover from his horrific head injuries.
But the 17-year-old defied the odds to become a martial arts champion and even lifted double gold in the Special Olympics in 2005.
Now the young sportsman will play a pivotal role in the Beijing games when he carries the Olympic torch through the
streets of London this weekend.
Yesterday Brian, from Renfrew, said: "I am so excited. It still hasn't sunk in that I'm going to be carrying the torch for the Olympic Games in front of all my family and friends.
"It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it will be something I will never forget. I am so proud to be taking part."
The teenager was just five years old when he slipped off the veranda of a friend's house and fell to the concrete pavement.
He was taken to Glasgow's Southern General, where doctors brought him back to life twice after his heart stopped beating.
He was in a coma for five weeks and at one point was kept alive by 28 machines.
The accident left him paralysed and brain-damaged, and doctors warned his mother Jeanette, 41, and father Andy, 38, that his condition would not improve.
Confined to a wheelchair, Brian worked hard with physiotherapists and speech therapists to learn to walk and talk again.
In an attempt to improve his balance and co-ordination he began taking judo lessons.
A natural at the sport, he began competing at local level and was selected to represent Scotland at the Special Olympics, in Glasgow, winning two gold medals. Last year, he travelled to China for a warm-up event ahead of the World Special Olympics, where he will be representing Great Britain.
His parents nominated him to take part in the Olympic relay race as part of the Samsung True Life Hero competition, which aimed to find some of Britain's most inspiring people. His story moved panellists, chaired by the five-times Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave, and he was chosen along with three others to become an Olympic torchbearer.
On Sunday a coach-load of family and friends will travel to London to see him carry the torch.
The Olympic Torch relay has set off from Olympia in Greece and will travel thousands of miles before reaching Beijing. Sporting greats, such as tennis star Tim Henman and Sir Steve will take part in the relay.
Mrs Thomson, yesterday said that watching her son carry the torch would be her proudest moment.
She said: "Doctors told me that he would not be able to walk or talk because of his brain damage. But he is my walking, talking miracle.
"We have four kids and we love them all the same and give them as much attention, but Brian brings us so much joy," she added.
"I nominated him because he has achieved so much – and it will be the proudest day of my life when I see him jogging with the torch in his hand."
The full article contains 521 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
