A man has won a body building competition after doctors told his family it was unlikely he'd be able to walk again following a car crash.
Marlon Laight suffered serious injuries after he lost control of his car having taken his seatbelt off for a "split second" and reaching down to retrieve an e-cigarette.
The then 26-year-old careered into a Seat and spun off the road on in Cleethorpes, Grimsby Telegraph reported.
Marlon ended up careering through a bus stop and could easily have died were it not for one passer-by who kept his airways open until paramedics arrived.
Marlon, now 30, was left with serious brain injuries and his right optic nerve was completely severed, making him partially blind.
At one point, his mum Helen was told she may have to switch off his life support machine when he was in Hull Royal Infirmary.
However, the next day Marlon began flicking his finger and his health has since gone from strength to strength.
At the state of his rehabilitation his aim was to walk to the house of the person who saved his life and shake their hand.
Since achieving that, he has been training as a body builder and has even won a national competition, the Physical Culture Association (PCA) body building disabled category.
In time, Marlon is hoping to make an appearance at the Universal PCA competition.
He said: "Body building came into play when I started my rehabilitation.
"Thankfully, it has been going so well and I'm constantly working hard and going to the gym.
"That has helped me come on leaps and bounds at getting back to what I used to be.
"My coach, Lee Trunkington, is a massive help and without him I wouldn't be where I am today. The amount he has taught me is unbelievable.
"I've learnt how to jump, climb stairs and even do burpees with him.
"At the minute, I'm learning to skip. It's absolutely unreal how far I've come."
Despite having made really good progress, Marlon needed to be convinced to enter a body building competition.
Marlon explained: "I never realised someone like me and with my type of injuries could ever do that kind of thing.
"As time went on, I got more confidence and eventually entered into the competition last December."
Marlon trained for 16 weeks, watching his calorie count, exercising and even measuring his water intake to make sure he was ready for the competition on May 1.
"After my accident, I've basically had to relive my life over again," he continued.
"It was like being a new baby at the age of 26."
The biggest turning point was when he learnt to walk properly again.
For Marlon, that was when he had the confidence to push on and felt as though he could get back to being his old self.
Come the day of the competition, Marlon had to stand in front of the judges and perform a number of poses, something he never thought he would be able to do.
He explained: "Just doing the poses was a real challenge. With my brain injury, I lost all ability to balance properly and control parts of my body.
"When I started doing them, it was a wow moment for me. Even thinking about them used to be difficult, doing them made me feel so happy, I even cried."
Marlon was bowled over to learn that he'd won the competition.
He said: "It's been a massive shock, I was gobsmacked when I found out.
"I struggle talking about it because it made me so happy. This has probably never happened to anyone else in the world.
"On the day of my accident, my mum was told I'd need constant care and that it'd be very rare if I ever walked again.
"Beating that was the best moment in my life, without a shadow of a doubt.
"Now, I'd like to carry on and hopefully I can compete in the Universe competition, this whole process has literally changed my life."
Lee Trunkington, Marlon's coach, said his transformation has been nothing like he's ever seen.
Lee explained: "I've never had a client like Marlon, his determination is amazing and when he won there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
"He always surprises and shocks me with whatever he does, I never thought he could do so well when I first met him."
