David Ferguson talks to former Scotland U21 international David Kelly, who will hand-cycle 250 miles around New Zealand's South Island to raise money for spinal injury research, in The Scotsman.
"This week, he heads back to New Zealand, but with a deep sense of anxiety for when Millar did eventually leave the Land of the Long White Cloud, it was not for a Scotland jersey, but to a new life in a wheelchair, his spine having snapped in a rugby injury.
"Having rebuilt his life and become a clinical neuropsychologist, now at the regional neurosciences centre in Newcastle, the injury in 1989 ignited a passion for neurology and a life's campaign to seek treatment and a cure for spinal injury. He decided last year to mark the 20-year point by returning to the place where his life was dramatically altered.
"He is not taking the tourist route however. Dr Millar has been pushing his wheelchair along the roads around Newcastle daily for the past eight months, in all weathers, to prepare for a unique challenge – to hand-cycle 250 miles around New Zealand's South Island and raise as much money as possible for spinal injury research. That is where much of the anxiety stems from this week as he packs up for what he has termed 'The Mighty Push'."
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