The saying ‘live every day like it’s your last’ might sound like a cliché, but to one West Lothian man it has real meaning.
Scott Fleming has pledged to do just that after his heart stopped with no warning while he was playing football in December 2004 and he had to be revived several times on the way to hospital.
He later found out he had Wolff-Parkinson-Whyte Syndrome, which causes the heart to beat abnormally fast, and spent five days in a coma after the terrifying incident.
But to make matters worse, damage caused to his throat during life-saving intubation meant he needed a tracheostomy – where an opening is created at the front of the neck so a tube can be inserted into the windpipe to help breathing – leaving him unable to speak for 14 months.
Scott has since had several procedures to cure him of Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome and regain his voice and is fighting fit – something he proved by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2009, just five years after he collapsed playing for his local team, Balbardie, in Torphichen.
The 44 year old, who stays in Bathgate, is also studying for his black belt in Kuk Sool Won martial arts and has realised his ambition of becoming a successful author.
And today (Thursday) Scott hopes to inspire others with his incredible story at an event organised by Craigshill charity SPARK.
He will join cyclist Josh Quigley, presenter and mental health advocate Gail Porter, social media agency boss Sophie Robertson and Tony McCaffery, founder of Diversity Scotland at Why Not Me? – part of the charity’s inaugural Storytelling Festival.
He told the Courier: “The mantra of having a second chance doesn’t really ring true with me as I’ve always been stubbornly determined and lived a full life even before December 2004.
“Up until that point I had led an active life, hill climbing, running, martial arts, etc with no indication that anything was wrong.
“A combination of medical expertise at the game and the work of the ambulance service kept me going until I got to St John’s.
“I was then in a coma for around five days until they could stabilise me. Tests revealed I was suffering from a condition called Wolff- Parkinson-Whyte.
“This was cured just before Christmas by an ablation procedure, which involves feeding an electrode up through an artery and closing off a ventricle while you are awake.
“That procedure completely cured me of Wolff-Parkinson-Whyte.
“I have absolutely no recollection of the day it happened, the human brain can be clever that way and shields you from trauma.
“But in the clamour to save my life, my throat sustained some damage during intubation. No fault of the NHS here, they were outstanding. This was merely incidental due to the nature of the emergency.
“Several procedures were attempted to stop my throat from closing over, but the scar tissue continued to take over and eventually in April 2005, I had to have a tracheostomy fitted to allow me to breathe. This robbed me of much of my freedom and total loss of my voice for 14 months.
“After much discussion and failed attempts to correct my situation, the only viable option was to volunteer for a second coma and an operation to remove the section of my throat in August 2006.
“This was an extremely risky procedure but thankfully it was a 100 per cent success due to the skill of the surgeon and his team.”
After regaining his voice and his health Scott returned to hill walking and football and met his wife, Sarah and not long after – despite family fears – decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in 2009, adding: “I had always wanted to do this, but I now felt it was a watershed moment for me to prove that I was back to full health.”
After the birth of children Connor (9) and Ellis (6), Scott says he discovered a passion for writing and wrote children’s stories at first and now novels. He has written several adult fiction books and is about to publish his second children’s book.
He has also started work on a children’s charity book called Scotland Through the Eyes of a Child and has launched a competition to engage children across Scotland to learn more about their country.
He continued: “Writing was something I have stumbled upon by accident thanks to my children, but now that, along with studying for my black belt in Kuk Sool Won, is my passion.
Scott said he is looking forward to today’s event and said his message will be how you can achieve things against the odds.
He continued: “I grew up in a single parent family in Blackburn. We were far from affluent and opportunities and expectations were generally low.
“But I still had a fantastic childhood, I still had drive and ambition, and with a little help and encouragement from the right people, you can achieve your goals, regardless of your beginnings.”
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