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Hundreds of motorbikers surprise terminally ill Mulben man with fly-by


By Jonathan Clark

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Iain Ogston [right] from Mulben with nephew Chris Stuart [standing] and biker Chris Macdonald. Picture: Eric Cormack
Iain Ogston [right] from Mulben with nephew Chris Stuart [standing] and biker Chris Macdonald. Picture: Eric Cormack

A TERMINALLY ill motorbike fanatic was given the surprise of a lifetime when hundreds of bikers roared past his quiet Mulben home last weekend.

Iain Ogston (54) was injured in a motorbike crash as a teenager, leaving him in a wheelchair, and he now has terminal cancer.

Iain loves hearing motorbikes flying past on a quiet day made it "almost his dying wish" to experience that again, said nephew Chris Stuart.

So Chris (30), from Dufftown, set about the task of getting a couple of local bikers to drive past and give his uncle a much-needed surprise.

After getting in touch with pal and local biker Chris Macdonald on Friday, August 7, the event was all set to go ahead with just two days notice on the Sunday.

But the scale of the fly-by took Chris completely by surprise. He said: "My friend Chris put up a post on social media and tried to get 10 or 20 bikers to come past.

"In my head I was thinking there would be two or three bikes. My uncle had said to me that even if five came past he could die a happy man.

"I got a text on the Sunday saying 'I hope you are sitting down'. 160 motorbikes went past, it was non-stop tooting and waving for four minutes.

"It was unbelievable, my uncle was gobsmacked."

Below, the view Chris and Iain had as around 160 motorbikes roared past.

The bikers met in Regent Square in Keith at 1pm on Sunday. Some had travelled from as far afield as Stonehaven and Inverness with just two days notice.

Chris wanted to express his gratitude to all of them for making his uncle "very happy".

Below, one of the 160 bikers takes you on a tour of the fly-by given to Iain Ogston.

He added: "My uncle's illness is getting worse and he doesn't have long to live. We needed something to cheer him up.

"He is a quiet man, he has a circle of close friends but he keeps himself to himself.

"The whole thing was supposed to be a big surprise but he wasn't wanting to come out of his bed so we had to tell him.

"Straight away he perked up and we pushed him to the top of the hill. A few of his friends came up and we just sat for minutes as the bikers kept coming.

"If we could have thanked every one of them personally we would have. They have made an old man very happy.

"I have to say a massive thank you to Chris for getting everything together so quickly.

"Iain has been overwhelmed by the generosity everyone has shown him."

Iain Ogston [right] from Mulben with nephew Chris Stuart [standing] and biker Chris Macdonald. Picture: Eric Cormack
Iain Ogston [right] from Mulben with nephew Chris Stuart [standing] and biker Chris Macdonald. Picture: Eric Cormack

A fundraiser has been set up for Iain's funeral. So far, more than £3000 has been raised in aid of the 54-year-old, who is also well known in local angling circles.

You can donate at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/oggiesfuneral.

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