A dad is planning to swim the length of Loch Lomond and back for charity after his son was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
After Ross McQuade, from Wishaw, was given the devastating news in 2017 aged 19, his dad Scott became determined to raise awareness of the disease.
In 11 hours and 11 minutes he swam a gruelling 22 miles, the equivalent of the length of Loch Lomond, and raised £6,500 for The Brain Tumour Charity.
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While Ross has since made a full recovery after surgery, Scott still wants to help other families in the same situation and is now planning to double his efforts by swimming for 44 miles straight.
Scott said: “A short while after completing my challenge in 2017, I began to wonder how far it would be possible for me to swim, and from there the idea of a two-way swim of Loch Lomond was conceived.
“As well as a journey to discover just how far I am able to push myself, I wanted this particular swim to represent the enormous challenge that anyone who has been diagnosed with a brain tumour and their loved ones goes through - as Ross and all our family and friends now know only too well.
"We were lucky to be supported by the wonderful staff at the Brain Tumour Charity and know how invaluable this support was, and continues to be, to us.
“With this challenge, I hoped that by attempting something so out of the ordinary, people may feel more inclined to support the charity.”
The swim is continuous and is expected to last 24 to 26 hours, and Scott hopes to raise as much money for the Brain Tumour Charity as possible.
Ahead of the swim on September 9, he has been training as hard as possible and has swum over 1.1 million metres since New Year.
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Speaking of the inspiration his son has given him, he added: "To keep me motivated, I have memories of how strong Ross was when he was going through his journey, before, during and post- surgery.
"These memories are something that I’ve relied on during the difficult training sessions, especially when the Scottish weather wasn’t playing fair.
“I know that swimming through the night will be difficult.
"In the darkness I really won’t be able to see much of anything, so my only point of reference will be my support boat that will be alongside me. This may get a bit disorientating, which could be tough.
“I do expect that the second leg of the swim will be hardest of all as I will l be getting more and more tired having already swam for 12+ hours and knowing that I have the same to do all over again.
"I’m confident that my support crew on the boat - Ross will be one of them - will be able to keep me going though!”
Speaking of his pride in his father's efforts, Ross said: “I'm really so proud of my dad for putting his body through this.
"It's amazing that he has the strength and endurance to even attempt some of the long swims during training - 8, 12, 15 hours - never mind doing the double of Loch Lomond!
“It's so important to keep raising awareness as the charity can become a community and an outlet for people, like myself and my family, to turn to who are in similar situations or have already lived through it.
"I was one of the lucky ones and had an amazing support system around me, which was helped massively by the charity, but people who may not be as fortunate will have more questions and will need more support in their decisions.
"The Brain Tumour Charity can help them through that.”
So far, Scott has raised over £2000 for the swim.
Evangeline Wragg, Community Fundraiser for Scotland, said: “We are blown away by the effort Scott is making by taking on this epic swim to raise funds and awareness of brain tumours.
“Taking on the length of Loch Lomond, not just once, but twice, is just incredible.
“Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of the under 40s and, unlike other cancers, survival rates have not improved over the last 40 years.
“We are leading the way in changing this and truly fighting brain tumours on all fronts through our work.
“It’s through the efforts of people like Scott that we can change these shocking statistics in the future and bring hope to the thousands of people who are diagnosed with a brain tumour every year.”
Scott’s swim will take place on September 9, 2022, starting at approximately 4pm.
To donate to his page click here.
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