Disabled Moray author Iain Macleod charts wheelchair adventures in new book Wheels Galore!
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A LOCAL author and "disability advocate" is hoping to inspire people with a life-affirming new book on how he has overcome obstacles from the seat of his wheelchair.
Iain Macleod (57) has had cerebral palsy since the age of three, and enjoys a full and active life as a wheelchair user.
He receives 24-hour care at his home at Linkwood View sheltered housing complex in New Elgin, where he has lived since July 2018.
His autobiography – Wheels Galore! Adaptive Cars, Wheelchairs, and a Vibrant Daily Life with Cerebral Palsy – charts his childhood, teenage and adult adventures on wheels.
He hopes to inspire disabled people and parents of disabled children with the message to live full-throttle and with a mentality that can overcome any blocks on the road.
Before a fall which left him severely disabled in June 2017, which was the starting point for his first book, 10 Seconds That Changed My Life, Iain had lived on his own in Fochabers for 17 years. He was forced, after an 11-month spell in hospital, to leave behind the house he loved and his independent lifestyle.
Iain started writing his first book using a head-controlled computer device while in intensive care at Aberdeen's Woodend Hospital – and finished it four months later in Keith's Turner Memorial Hospital.
Since then he has earned a PhD and completed his latest book.
He said: "From early childhood into my teen years and adulthood, I was not going to let my disability get in the way of my ambitions or goals.
"Usually that was in the form of going as fast as I could on anything with wheels – my various wheelchairs, my tricycle, my battery car and several wheelchair-adapted cars ever since."
Iain describes how he passed his advanced driving test and how he re-educated himself up to PhD standard by earning three university degrees in science from the Open University – the achievement of which he is most proud.
He said: "I hope to inspire my readers to rise above the perceived limitations of disability and live life their way with grace, guts and gusto.
"You never know what’s around the corner. You learn to adapt, and what might have seemed strange becomes your new normal.
"Over the passage of time I have found an inner tranquility and acceptance of my new reality.
"I understand that others must look after me instead of me looking after myself. Admitting to yourself that you need more help than would normally be the case is the first step toward living your life to the full.
"I want all my readers to strive to achieve what they want – whether they have a disability or not."
Wheels Galore! is available as an eBook, paperback, hardcover and audiobook from Amazon and other book retailers.
See Iain's website at www.wheelsgalore.com/ .
