Tetraplegic taking on 79-mile Great Glen Way in off-road wheelchair

A tetraplegic veteran is taking on a 79-mile journey in his off-road wheelchair to prove that life goes on and can still be “extraordinary”.

Danny Mavor, who served in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in Iraq, was paralysed from the neck down after a motorcycle accident six years ago.

He is now based at Erskine Hospital.

The 41-year-old, from Glasgow, is preparing to travel across Scotland along the Great Glen Way using a chin-controlled wheelchair in a major endurance challenge next month.

Danny Mavor on his off-road wheelchair travelling through a wooded area — Danny Mavor controls his off-road wheelchair with his chin (PA)

The journey will take Mr Mavor from Fort William to Inverness over three days, raising funds for people living with spinal injuries through the charity Regain.

It will push him to his physical and mental limits, but he said he wants to help support other tetraplegics who are facing similarly life-changing spinal injuries.

“All my life, I’ve always enjoyed that feeling of a challenge,” Mr Mavor told the Press Association.

“You break your neck and your previous life is kind of history – who you were, what you were, everything you identified as – there’s a lot to get over.”

He said he wants to struggle on this challenge because he believes sitting still is slowly killing him.

I’m struggling anyway, so why not do the things that I loved, like mountains, like a challenge, like hanging out and (enjoying) camaraderie with the boys

Danny Mavor

Mr Mavor said he struggles day to day with pain that he has felt since the moment he broke his neck.

“It intensifies when I’m doing things like this [or when] I’m talking about the past, but it also gives me a little bit of a buzz thinking about my old life,” he said.

“I just know that I’m struggling anyway, so why not do the things that I loved, like mountains, like a challenge, like hanging out and [enjoying] camaraderie with the boys?”

Mr Mavor previously said attempting 25 miles a day through Scottish terrain feels somewhere between “inspiring and absolutely idiotic”.

There will be at least two or three obstacles throughout the journey where Mr Mavor will need to use harnesses and rely on his support team to traverse steep inclines.

Danny Mavor in his Army uniform, on top of an armoured vehicle — Danny Mavor previously served in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (PA)

“The path is going to be walkable, and drivable in a wheelchair,” he said.

“It’s going to be bobbly, it’s going to be bumpy, and I’m going to have a very sore chin.”

He added: “This chair is all-terrain, and that’s great, but there’s still bumps – like stones and just little cambers, things like that that are all going to make a huge difference to the start and the end of each day.”

He said Regain is a charity close to his heart.

It is dedicated to improving the independence, mobility, and quality of life for individuals living with tetraplegia.

Mr Mavor’s fundraising page can be found at www.justgiving.com/page/dannys-big-challenge-2026.