Doddie Weir: Scotland’s gentle giant who never lost his positive outlook

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The late BBC commentator Bill McLaren once famously described Weir as being “on the charge like a mad giraffe”, but it was with astonishing grace and humility that he faced up to his disease. Doddie Weir Educated at Stewart’s Melville College in Edinburgh, the lock started his playing career with the Inverleith outfit’s first XV before moving to Melrose in 1991, where he won a hat-trick of Scottish Championships. In a midweek clash with provincial side Mpumalanga, he was the victim of a brutal karate kick later described by the tourists’ furious head coach Ian McGeechan as a “cold-blooded act”. While his battle with MND gradually took its toll, he continued to campaign to ensure those diagnosed with the disease after him would have a better chance of survival, setting up his ‘My Name’5 Doddie’ foundation, which rose to even greater prominence when he linked up with fellow sufferers Rob Burrow and Stephen Darby.