He had a one in 100 chance of a full recovery from a horrific ski crash which left him in a coma for tree weeks.
But now Ross Nesbitt, 16, has defied the odds not just by getting back onto the ski slopes - but gaining seven As on his exam results.
The teenager was training with the Glasgow ski racing team in Austria in December 2016 when he crashed and hit his head on a fence post.
A third-year pupil at the time and aged 14, he spent a month in hospital in Innsbruck and was transferred to Glasgow by air ambulance with a further six-and-a-half weeks in Scottish hospitals.
But after weeks in intensive care, doctors told his family he had a one percent chance of making a full recovery as he had to learn how to walk, talk and eat again.
But Ross, a pupil at Williamwood High School in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, made dramatic improvements and walked out of hospital in February last year before returning to school full-time about three months later.
Now he has achieved seven As and one B in his National 5 exams, while also returning to competitive skiing.
He will return to Williamwood next week for fifth year, is unsure what he will do after school, but will make sure skiing is still part of his life.
He said: “After my accident I had to learn how to do basic tasks again, such as walking and talking, but when I did eventually return to school they were really helpful.
"I initially just went back for shorter days and my teachers helped me catch up on work I’d missed – so when I went back full-time I was prepared.
"When the exams came round I felt ready for them but I really did not expect to get the results I have – but I’m really pleased. I wanted to see what results I got this year before deciding on what type of career I’d like to head towards.”
His mother Wilma said: “It was really touch and go at times, we didn’t know whether we were going to get our boy back but it didn’t take very long before there were signs that Ross was improving.
“The first thing was switching on his mobile phone and putting his code in, and we knew he was still with us, but he had quite a long time recovering.
“He had to learn to swallow, how to walk and talk again. He had lost 18kgs in weight over the initial period and had a tube in his stomach to feed him, so it’s remarkable with the help of all the team at the Children’s Hospital in Glasgow that we walked out of there.”
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