WINTER WARRIOR: Six years after the diagnosis that turned his world upside down, Scots snowboarder David Zyw aims to become first athlete with motor neurone disease to compete at a Winter Olympics

At 7pm on Friday, April 6, 2018, David Zyw was told he was suffering from motor neurone disease. In March 2026, he could be competing in the Winter Paralympics in Milan in snowboarding.

The journey between both these dates is fraught with uncertainty. The 37-year-old has been declared eligible after a medical examination but now has to qualify by competing against fellow aspirants. He will do all this with an illness that the NHS website says ‘causes weakness over time’ and ‘eventually leads to death’.

If successful, he will be the first MND athlete to compete at a Winter Olympics. He will also be the first UK competitor with MND to compete in any discipline.

The arc towards sporting history is obvious. But this is also a story of poignancy, courage and extraordinary will. Zyw has to prepare for an uncertain future while living in the challenging present. The focus on the now suits him.

‘I have always been like that,’ he says. ‘I don’t like to look far ahead, which irritates my wife no end. I try to squeeze the most enjoyment out of any tasks I am doing, whether that be the most mundane or the most exciting. I fill my life. I very rarely have any down time because that is when dark thoughts come on.

‘I like to do things, I like to keep active. For my physical health as well as my mental health. I try to appreciate the small details of life.’

Since his diagnosis, Zyw has married Yvette and they have a three-year-old son, Aleksander. Life goes on.

‘I got diagnosed not too long after Doddie Weir was diagnosed,’ says Zyw, a buyer for a drinks company. He sees his Paralympic quest as a means to raise awareness of MND and is supported by Weir’s charity, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. The former Scottish rugby forward died two years ago, aged 52. He remains an inspiration, not least to Zyw.

But the aspiring Olympian knows he has to walk his own road.

‘The understanding of MND has moved on,’ he says. He talks of visiting specialists looking for answers, whereas now he is providing the information to the medical professionals.

‘When I first got diagnosed I was told to avoid any serious activity,’ he says. ‘The fear was that doctors thought it might exacerbate my condition. But the nature of the disease is that there are so many unknowns. I keep myself as fit as possible.’

A numbness in his hand while snowboarding led to tests, followed by that fateful diagnosis in 2018. Everything changed. The keen cyclist and snowboarder had to confront his mortality.

‘The first two years after that were very much about looking into my own life, spending time with my family. My twin brother, Tommy, and I went on a big adventure. We went cycling and camping through the wilds of Patagonia, snowboarding in Whistler, a big family holiday with friends and family in Barbados. It was a bucket list year. It was future-proofing. My amazing girlfriend and I got engaged and we moved back to Edinburgh from London.’

He adds: ‘The first two years were about battening down the hatches, living life to the full but discovering what my needs were going to be.’

Almost instinctively, he got on his bike for charity. He cycled the North Coast 500 over five days in 2020. Consecutive days of 100-mile rides tested him. He survived, raising £150,000. In 2022, he took on the High Five, cycling Scotland’s five highest roads: Ben Lawers, Cairnwell Pass, Lecht, Cairngorm and Bealach na Ba. This encompasses 265 miles with 19,000ft of climbing.

Zyw has described exercise as his ‘cathedral’. His devotion grew and his faith in its power and purpose was rewarded both mentally and physically.

The snowboard, a companion of his youth, was retrieved and Zyw decided to go for Paralympic qualification.

‘The other week I was poked and prodded by doctors and was approved to compete in the Parasport World Cup series,’ he says. This is his final obstacle to Paralympic qualification.

‘It was a strange moment. I was celebrating the fact that I was disabled enough to get into their upper limb classification. It was a happy and sad moment. I am pleased to be able to compete.’

However, it was also a further confirmation of the extent of his illness. Zyw is not one to wallow in self-pity, however.

‘I was racing in Holland last week and there was one guy who had no arms, lost both in a double shark attack,’ he says.

‘He was tearing it up, beating me. I thought: “Fair play, mate. I am not the only para athlete with a story”.’

The story circles around Midlothian Snowsports Centre in Hillend, Edinburgh. ‘I spent two or three week nights up there after school as a boy,’ says Zyw. ‘My dear granny stayed in Fairmilehead just up the road and I would leave school and go snowboarding in my teens.’

His professional life was also influenced by snow. He left school at 16 to take a chef’s course and moved to the Alps. The choice of destination was ‘very much about the snow’. He adds: ‘That is where I took the snowboarding much more seriously. The food and drink were a professional interest but the reason I went to the Alps was as a means to help me snowboard.

‘I was a semi-pro snowboarder. I was competitive but by no means pro. I had a huge passion for it and some talent, but I was never the best. I had that grounding and that has helped me in what I am doing now.’

His commitment to the sport cannot be doubted. ‘I am a dad, husband and a brother. Then I am a snowboarder. That’s me stripped down. I feel very lucky that this bastard neurological disease has given me a reason to get my snowboard out again.’

His journey to Milan has a major obstacle. He must rank in the top 15 in the Parasport World Cup series to qualify. He won silver in a race in Dubai last month and a subsequent race in Holland saw him finish 12th.

‘I feel I am very much in the mix,’ he says. ‘I am competing against full-time para athletes, born in the 2000s, with coaches. I live in Portobello and I will get no funding unless I make the team later next year.’

He is quietly optimistic, however. ‘I am seeing my progression. My times are getting quicker, I’m learning. I am hopeful but I have my work cut out.’

He is aware that MND has created heroes such as Weir and Rob Burrow, the former rugby league player who died earlier this year, aged only 41. He accepts, too, that others look to him for inspiration.

‘It’s been tough,’ he says. ‘But I have been spellbound, humbled by conversations, messages about what my journey has done for others. The impact on others, in any shape of form, I never take it for granted. But I am living my own life to the best ability I can.

‘I don’t want to sound too lofty but, if anyone can take anything away from my story, it is about keeping optimistic and keeping full of gratitude in the face of adversity.’

He has, of course, learned so much about his own life. What seemed important on April 5, 2018, was changed by that fateful conversation with a doctor the next day.

‘One definite result from the diagnosis is that the important things in life become clearer. Everything in life that is not important just drops away. I have a lot more clarity and purpose in my life now. The white noise you once filled your day with, well, I hardly bother about it now. I literally don’t have time for it.’

His priorities are obvious. ‘I have a very happy life. I have a full life at home. I want to be happy at home as well as chasing a dream at the training. I will have a realistic steer about my Paralympic hopes after the next few races. I am confident I will do well. Is it going to be enough, who knows?’

He is certain about other matters. ‘Yvette has been incredibly supportive since the start. I am conscious that I need to be very mindful of the tragic circumstances of my diagnosis on all my family. My time on this planet is precious and giving my family my time is No1 on my agenda and I need to be very careful about what I am doing.’

He adds: ‘The best thing MND has given me is clarity. I am lucky to be indulging in my passion and chasing a dream. But my family is first. My gold medal is at home.’

To support his bid for Paralympic qualification see: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/davyzyw