There was no way I was going to let freak accident ruin my life

Brother of late MP tells of brave fight back from a horrific injury

Ian Kennedy has achieved

his dream of walking again. not eaten much that day and fainted. I cradled him in my arms as I called for an ambulance.

“When I heard he was paralysed I worried that I had caused it by cradling him. But the doctors said the injury was because he hit the sink as he fainted.”

Ian was taken to the Belford Hospital in Fort William and airlifted to the spinal injuries unit at Glasgow’s then Southern General Hospital.

There, neurosurgeons carried out a two- hour operation to remove part of Ian’s vertebrae to relieve pressure on his damaged spinal cord. He was in a coma for two months.

“We feared he would never recover,” Carline added. She sat by his bedside as he spent six months in the unit. The couple married last year after being together for 22 years.

“We felt that life was so precarious and that we should marry,” Caroline smiled.

Now, two-and-a-half years on, he is walking and even stood up recently to unveil a stained- glass window tribute to his late brother at their local church, St John’s, in the nearby village of Caol.

The former Lib Dem leader and MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber died suddenly at his Fort William home aged just 55 on June 1, last year. “It was a dreadful blow losing him,” Ian said. “He was a local hero respected by many in the constituency. Our family went through a terrible time after my accident.”

Ian’s dream now is to recover enough to be able to play the drums again. Prior to his accident he was an accomplished percussionist who played in several bands. “I am working hard to get power back into my left arm. Then I could get back to playing the drums.

“Now that would be something,” he smiled.

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