A MAN who risked his life to foil the Glasgow Airport terror attack has died aged 59.
Stephen Clarkson was picking up a family member from the airport on June 30, 2007, when two terrorists drove a jeep packed with petrol and gas canisters into the terminal building.
The builder, from Penilee, took down one of the bombers with a “wee forearm smash” as he was fighting off police officers and attempting to open the car’s boot, the BBC reports.
Clarkson was one of seven men who risked their lives and potentially saved hundreds of passengers and staff at the airport.
Clarkson’s elder brother David told the Scottish Sun that he died at a hospice in the city on Sunday, five months after being diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer that affects the bile ducts.
David recalled the moment Stephen told him what had unfolded.
He said: "We'd been working nearby and he said he'd be away half an hour. Later he phoned me to say why he was late back and said 'I think I've just decked a suicide bomber'."
When urged to share his story by his family, Stephen stated: “I don’t bother with that.”
David later contacted a newspaper – without his brother’s knowledge – after learning that some of the other men had been nominated for a Pride of Britain Award.
Stephen was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in 2010.
He later told the BBC how he initially thought the attack was a car accident but realised something was wrong when Kafeel Ahmed, one of the bombers, started lashing out at police.
Stephen was inadvertently pepper sprayed by responding officers as he went to help.
He said: "Just when I cleared my eyes, he was coming in my direction. I got angry. He still hadn't been stopped so I just ran at him and knocked him to the ground with my forearm and elbow."
A day earlier the attackers had made a failed attempt to set off two car bombs in London.
Ahmed was badly burned in the Glasgow attack and later died in hospital.
His co-conspirator Bilal Abdulla was sentenced to at least 32 years in prison.
Stephen Clarkson’s funeral will be held at Craigton cemetery on March 21, the BBC reports.
