Scott Jeffrey

I first met Scott 8 years ago. I was the Principal of a large high school and he was an 11 year old primary 7 student preparing to transfer to my school. Scott has Aspergers and at that time the concept of transferring to a huge high school was a terrifying prospect to Scott and his wonderful but petrified parents. Scott struggled and still dose with everyday social interaction, and back then we all worried that life in a large mainstream school would be too much to ask. We very soon realised that Scott could not cope with team activities such as hockey, basketball and football. He couldn't read the body language and higher order communication used in team sports. So I took him to the gym and got him running on the tread mill. He quickly took to this. We later moved on to running outside. By the end of first year he competed in a one mile cross country race. By S3 he ran his first 10k. By the end of S6 at the age of 18 he ran the Edinburgh half marathon with me. He left school last year to move onto Higher Education, but next Sunday at the age of 19 he will run the Edinburgh Marathon with me. Last Easter he passed his driving test, climbed his first Munro and done a ten thousand feet freefall parachute jump. Scott inspires me and he has made me a better man. If anyone symbolises the true meaning of the Olympic Games, Scott Jeffrey does.