GB medallist in Alps limbo after virus evacuation

Coming back into competitive action after seven months injured brought instant success and with it a gold medal for the Stornoway snowboarder and for Team GB.

But fast forward just a few days and the emphatic high of topping the international podium was replaced by the terrifying and shocking immediate evacuation of a World Cup race in Norway, the cancellation of scheduled races and now unsure of what to do or where to go due to the global Coronavirus pandemic.

“Everything is so unclear with this virus outbreak now with borders closed or closing and I’m not sure at all where I should be or what I should do so I’m currently in the French Alps but I don’t know what is going to happen,” Andy exclusively told the Gazette.

Born and raised in Stornoway to a Mum from Great Bernera and a Dad from Shawbost, he is a dyed in the wool Hebridean, but one who has since settled in Stirling and become one of Great Britain’s most inspiring and fearless sportspeople.

Almost nine-years ago Andy was struck by a car saw him lose his right leg below the knee and also came with the added stress and pain of a traumatic brain injury which impacted his attention, concentration and memory.

A regular competitor in GB colours, Andy is is a poster boy for athletes and sportspeople seeking to recover from accidents and the loss of limbs across the country, and his gold in the Snowboard Slalom event was another magnificent milestone for the 27-year-old.

Now though Andy is holed up in an apartment in the French Alps and torn between staying there in relative isolation or trying to drive through Europe and home to Stirling.

“At the moment I am in the Alps in France and I’m supposed to be here until the end of April as I have an apartment paid here until then but I’m so unsure what the right thing to do is as I could end up being quarantined and stuck in a foreign country for who knows how long,” he told the Gazette at the weekend.

“There has been talk of the mountain closing too which would mean I would be forced to leave the apartment anyway but it is such unique circumstances.”

When Andy arrived in Norway this week for a World Cup event there was global awareness of the Coronavirus pandemic but he wasn’t expecting things to escalate so quickly and so dramatically.

“We were in Norway last Sunday but before we begun word came through that the competitors from Italy, Japan and Austria were not being allowed to compete,” he explained.

“It was a surprise and we felt so bad for the guys as the Italian competitors had driven for two days across Europe to compete and it was shock to us all that things were getting serious.

“The rest of us were preparing for competition then but on Wednesday night the GB team pulled all of us from all competitions immediately.

“The other nations heard this and were very surprised and asking me if it was true but then within the hour all the other nations received the same message from their teams withdrawing them as well. We were then told to evacuate before Norway closed all the borders and things just escalated so quickly.”

From Norway Andy had to criss-cross Europe via a number of countries but he admits he wasn’t tested for the virus at any border.

“No actually,” admitted Andy. “I wasn’t tested at any border and I didn’t even seen any. My car was parked at Geneva Airport in Switzerland so I had to get that and then I didn’t know if I could even get into France or would I be able to get to the UK. I managed to get my car and drive to France to this apartment.”

This week’s sporting shut-down is a far cry from just a week earlier when Andy blazed a trail down the Polish slopes to top the podium at the first European Winter Para Sport Games at an event which welcomed 120 athletes from 15 countries.

“This was only my second event after coming back from seven months of injury time and I was really excited to be a part of the event but of course a bit apprehensive as I didn’t know what I was going to face when I got there,” he said.

“I have been living in Morzine in France since the beginning of December as I can get much more time on snow training and practicing which I think has definitely helped me get better and do so well in the competitions.”

He went on: “I won the gold in the Snowboard Slalom event and I had only done one competition like that in the past so although I had done pretty well I wasn’t completely confident in it.

“The competition ran as a combined time of two runs, rather than the usual best time of two runs so the pressure was on to have two consistent runs. I just wanted to play it safe on the first run and not crash as I had done in training and when I got to the bottom and heard that I had got the fastest time I was elated!

“I knew I had to keep it together for my second run then and try to keep my lead on my opponent which was less than a second. The second placed athlete had his second run before me and he looked really fast and smooth, so I definitely felt the pressure and did not feel that fast in my second run but then when I crossed the line people told me I had been even faster than my first run!”

“​I didn’t see my time but I was told in the finish area that even though the athlete in second had improved his time, I had also improved mine,” he beamed.

“The official final results were not announced until the podium session later in the day so although I was pretty sure I had gotten the gold, I wasn’t completely certain. I felt I could have been faster too as I’m still holding back a little since coming back from injury, but having scope to improve when still getting medals is really exciting”

After the event in Poland the far-travelling Andy made his way to Spain for a World Cup competition in La Molina in Spain and finished fourth having only had four runs on the track and only missing out on third place by 0.15seconds.

Juggling training, competing and travelling with real life is a strain on Andy who is quick to pay tribute to his support network.

“It is so busy and of course it does impact on my home life as we are away so much, and camps/competitions over the winter can change time/place quite frequently depending on snow conditions,” he commented.

“Staying so flexible is difficult but I’m really glad I have a good support network around me who help me with these things.

“Having the prosthetic leg is very limiting at times too, as the slightest injury will leave me having to not wear my leg at all and using crutches for up to two weeks at a time to heal.”

Andy’s primary focus remains on securing a spot in the GB Paralympic team and competing at Beijing 2022 and on current form he will surely be on the short-list for a spot but with the sporting calendar in tatters as the world battles the worst health crisis in a generation, no one knows what the future will hold.

“It is such a unique situation but GB are emailing us all every single day and they are looking after us and conveying information as it happens and it is the best information to go by,” he said.

“It is such an escalating issue and changes every single day so I don’t know if I am safe here should I just stay here until the end of April or should I try and get back to the UK which would bring me in contact with more people and be on ferries and the rest of it.

“There are a lot of question marks but if the mountain stays open a while then I could be safer and more isolated here. But the mountain might close as Switzerland and Italy have already closed their sides of the Alps.”

“I’m not really too worried personally as I’m young, pretty fit and well and I’m taking the advised precautions like washing my hands and not shaking hands with people,” he added.

*Andy has since returned to the UK after French President Emmanuel Macron‘s announcement last week that all trips between non-European countries and EU countries were to be suspended. Andy confirmed to the Gazette he was driving back to Scotland as he made his way to Calais.