The boy who learned to live again after fateful crash and six-month coma
As an eight-year-old schoolboy, Michael McCarthy was a keen athlete that loved running, playing football and staying active.
His dream was to become a professional runner and compete at the highest level possible – but his dreams were put on hold when on his daily journey to Castle House Preparatory School in Newport, he was victim of a horrific near-fatal car crash with an articulated lorry that put him in a coma for six months.
After nearly losing his life and having sustained a serious head injury resulting in multiple brain operations, he has since lived with left side hemiplegia – partial paralysis to one side of his body – memory loss and object agnosia, a rare condition that does not allow his brain to interpret the things he is looking at, registering him as legally blind.
From the age of nine, Michael had to learn to walk, talk and feed himself all over again.
But more than five published books later and a bucket list worth of lifetime achievements, the now-41-year-old, from Weston-under-Redcastle, south of Whitchurch, has completed the London Marathon, raced camels in Jordan, climbed Mount Kenya and even won a regional Olympic gold medal.
When asked how, it seemed Michael had one attitude towards achieving his goals.
"You've just got to get your head down and get on with it," he said.
Brian McCarthy, Michael's father, added: "Before the accident he was perfect, a good athlete that loved football – he did everything any other eight-year-old does.
"But he's managed to overcome what's been put in front of him and has just reached another milestone within his life."
Having dedicated his life to overcoming the challenges he faces on a daily basis, Michael has just published Hop to It, his eighth book in a series of children's novels about two dogs.
"I got the names of the dogs from ones I've known throughout my life," said Michael.
"Churchill was my own dog before he had to be put down, and Woodstock was my school's headmaster's daughter's dog.
"One of my stories was set in Hawkstone Park which I live nearby, which is why I chose that, although I don't always remember it.
"Another was about the dogs winning The Grand National which I know I've been to before.
"I have short term memory loss so I know I've done certain things but I can't really remember them. I can't remember how it felt or specific details of events. I just get on and do it."
Michael's latest book tells the story of an injured rabbit named Alfie that is rescued by Churchill and Winston.
His neighbours, Catherine Brown and Rob Bennett, help him publish his books by writing down the stories and illustrating as Michael tells them.
Brian added: "Michael will tend to forget what the story was about, so Catherine jogs his memory and once he's off, there's no stopping him.
"When he was eight, he was involved in a nasty road accident in Newport on his way to school. He was the back-seat passenger that took the impact from the lorry head on. He spent a lot of time in physiotherapy, went to Severndale Specialist Academy and Condover School for the Blind before it closed.
"He's also spent a significant amount of time at Cambridge and Birmingham University, where they used Michael as a subject for his object agnosia.
"Michael can see people but won't be sure who they are. The image goes through to his brain but his brain doesn't communicate with him what those images are."
Other accomplishments under Michael's belt include cycling the Coast to Coast as well as the London to Paris 24-hour challenge, volunteering in poverty-stricken parts of Africa, trekking through parts of the Rainforest, climbing Mount Kinablu and winning gold in the Midlands Special Olympics.
With five lifetimes of experience behind him already, Michael has started passing on his knowledge to others through motivational talks in primary schools known as Hairy Lemon Goals, which has seen him return to the school he attended before the crash.
"My sister came up with the name on the way to Castle House School to give a talk and it stuck," said Michael.
"I enjoy going to schools and giving my talks, it doesn't bother me talking about my accident or what happened.
"You've got to just keep moving forward – it's like the operations I have on my brain, I don't know what's going on but I just tell the nurses 'goodnight, get on with it and wake me up when it's over'."
Brian added: "We're very proud of Michael, everybody is. He inspires us to get up everyday.
"He makes us happy and yes, he makes us sad. He has his moments like everybody else, but he drives us to be better people."
More information on Michael and his books can be found at thosecleverdogs.com
