\n ‘Living and\u00a0Riding :\u00a060 for Hydrocephalus’\u00a0will see Mr Mooney undertake 60 gruelling 60-kilometre bike rides between now and November to raise awareness of the\u00a0charity\u00a0as well as much-needed funds.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Mooney was 36\u00a0when he discovered he has hydrocephalus, which doctors\u00a0believe he has\u00a0had since\u00a0birth.\u00a0With his diagnosis,\u00a0all the struggles\u00a0he\u2019d\u00a0experienced\u00a0in\u00a0his\u00a0life\u00a0made sense.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Mooney, now 44, said:\u00a0\u201cI am a very keen road\u00a0cyclist\u00a0but\u00a0I had a bad\u00a0accident\u00a0in June 2017 when\u00a0I\u00a0came off my bike.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI am always\u00a0very good\u00a0at texting my dad when I stop for my coffee stops in Aberfoyle or wherever.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cDad\u00a0hadn\u2019t\u00a0heard from me in a while and knew something\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0right\u00a0so he\u00a0drove\u00a0the route I had\u00a0cycled\u00a0and he found me at\u00a0the\u00a0side of the road. I had come off my bike and was unconscious.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n A bad bike smash led to Martin Mooney discovering a condition which had held him back all his life (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Mooney\u00a0was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital<\/a> in Glasgow with a broken collar bone, broken\u00a0ribs\u00a0and a broken pelvis. But he also had a head\u00a0injury\u00a0so he had an MRI which\u00a0which\u00a0showed excess\u00a0fluid. He\u00a0was transferred\u00a0to neurosurgery where a\u00a0probe was inserted in his head to record fluid pressure.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n He said: \u201cIt turned out I had non-pressurised hydrocephalus since birth.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n The medical\u00a0team has\u00a0since\u00a0helped\u00a0him\u00a0to understand\u00a0both\u00a0his\u00a0condition and\u00a0the symptoms which have affected him for as long as he can remember.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n He said:\u00a0\u201cIt took a\u00a0wee\u00a0while to process my condition but eventually I realised that my life experiences\u00a0and mental health were\u00a0as a result of\u00a0NPH\u00a0so as bad as the crash was, good came of it because it answered so many questions I had always asked.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIt is\u00a0the equivalent\u00a0of\u00a0constantly\u00a0walking\u00a0with broken\u00a0legs when you and everyone else doesn’t know they\u00a0are broken.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cBut I now know\u00a0I have a reason for being the way I am and always have been.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n READ MORE:\n<\/p>\n \n Scottish woman begins bid to run length of UK in memory of best friend<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Scottish chefs raise more than \u00a33,000 for hospitality charity at Bearsden dinner<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Inside Scotch whisky success story of profits and \u00a3421m for charity: a key ingredient<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n He continued: \u201cI had asked myself questions because I\u00a0always knew\u00a0something\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0right. I\u00a0come from quite an academic family;\u00a0my dad was a chemistry\u00a0teacher\u00a0and\u00a0my big brother\u00a0did really\u00a0well at school.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cI studied\u00a0really\u00a0hard\u00a0but always came up short. I struggled to process information and recall it for exams.\u00a0This became demoralising,\u00a0stressful\u00a0and mentally depressing.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cAfter leaving school, my limited\u00a0processing\u00a0skills had\u00a0a big impact\u00a0on my\u00a0employment. It became\u00a0very stressful\u00a0for me because employers were not always supportive. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cOver a few\u00a0years\u00a0 it\u00a0was obvious I needed\u00a0support since\u00a0my condition, unknown to me at that\u00a0point,\u00a0increasingly\u00a0presented as anxiety, irritability, forgetfulness,\u00a0depression\u00a0and\u00a0I\u00a0even became less steady and sure on my feet.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n Eventually,\u00a0in May 2012\u00a0this\u00a0presented\u00a0 as\u00a0a breakdown. His psychologist discovered that the best antidepressant \u2018drug\u2019 for Mr Mooney was\u00a0actually exercise.\u00a0He took up running and got himself a dog to increase his fitness.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n But he said: \u201cAfter running\u00a0like\u00a0Forest Gump\u00a0for a year or two I developed\u00a0cartilage\u00a0problems\u00a0in my knees\u00a0which negatively impacted my running.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n He explored alternative forms of exercising including road cycling \u2013 encouraged by his dad, Stephen, a keen road\u00a0cyclist himself\u00a0\u2013 and found a real passion for the sport.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \n Mr Mooney now volunteers with Bike for Good.\u00a0He said: \u201cIt is a social enterprise which has a couple of outlets in Scotland. I\u00a0volunteer in there on a\u00a0Tuesday\u00a0and a\u00a0Thursday. We take in bikes from the\u00a0public,\u00a0recondition\u00a0them\u00a0and put them back out to the public.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cI work\u00a0in the\u00a0service area\u00a0and if we\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0fix\u00a0them\u00a0we strip\u00a0them down for parts. We also actively\u00a0support the\u00a0local community through\u00a0cycling with\u00a0group rides\u00a0and\u00a0learning to ride. Bike for\u00a0Good is now an integral part of my\u00a0life.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n Recently he had a recurrence\u00a0of\u00a0his\u00a0old knee problem and faced the prospect of never riding again after an MRI scan revealed severe arthritis in his\u00a0knee joint\u00a0because of\u00a0the\u00a0lack of cartilage.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n He explained: \u201cI was too young for a knee joint replacement because I would wear it out too soon.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n However, by chance his consultant had learned of someone\u00a0pioneering\u00a0robotic, partial knee replacement\u00a0surgery.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n Mr Mooney\u2019s surgery\u00a0involved a CAT scan to\u00a0highlight the arthritic bone on the side of the knee\u00a0before a\u00a0robotic drill\u00a0removed the highlighted bone\u00a0to\u00a0the proper depth, whereupon a previously prepared metal plate of exactly\u00a0the\u00a0size of the\u00a0removed bone\u00a0was inserted before plastic\u00a0cartilage\u00a0was\u00a0placed between the bone.\n<\/p>\n \n Now he is putting those\u00a0special skills\u00a0to\u00a0good use\u00a0by getting on his bike to cycle\u00a060x60km rides in honour of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland\u2019s 60th\u00a0birthday\u00a0last\u00a0year.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n READ MORE:\n<\/p>\n \n Refugee charity in Edinburgh appeals for help as it faces eviction<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n Glasgow shopping centre is first in Scotland to train staff with Guide Dogs charity<\/a>\n<\/p>\nMartin now volunteers with Glasgow-based charity Bike for Good (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n