Two brothers are hoping to raise more than £10,000 in memory of their dad – who died before taking part in a life-changing medical trial.
Douglas and Angus Gray will be running the New York Marathon this year along with friend Martin Ivil.
The race takes place almost exactly a year to the day that the Gray boys’ father David, 54, died after falling from his car transporter.
Mr Gray, from Newtonmore, had lived with a severely restricted windpipe blockage as a result of a car accident on the A9 more than 30 years earlier.
He had been in the early stages of becoming one of the first people in the world to receive a windpipe replacement based on his own stem cells.
His condition left him with a distinctively gruff voice and breathing difficulties – but his family said he never allowed himself to be held back.
He had started the initial stages of having his condition observed by staff at University College London (UCL), who had pioneered the process of growing new organs out of patients’ stem cells.
But Mr Gray never got the chance to take part in the pioneering process due to his fall on November 3 last year, described by his wife Karen Gray as a “freak accident”.
Now the family are determined to make something positive out of the tragedy by raising funds which will be split between the UCL and the Scottish MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine to help fund research into stem cell science.
Mrs Gray said: “We just think people shouldn’t lose heart because of a medical problem.
“David never gave up and never allowed his condition to hold him back from anything.
“Our whole family were devastated that he died so suddenly because David was so close to getting what he had needed so badly.
“It really was just awful but I’m now so proud of the boys for being so positive and taking on this challenge.”
The Grays have already raised more than £8,000 towards their £10,000 target, despite the marathon not taking place for another five months.
None of the boys has ever taken part in a marathon before, and eldest son Douglas, 22, who is now based in Aberdeen, says they are just hoping to cross the finish line.
He added: “It’s pretty much a step into the unknown for all of us.
“We picked this event because it is almost exactly a year since dad died and it feels like the right way to mark that.”
To donate to the Gray brothers fund visit www.justgiving.com/david-gray54.