In the coming weeks, we'll be hearing more about the Tartan Army on the move.
There will also be epic stories about Scottish fans heading to Munich on June 14 when Steve Clarke's side take on the hosts in their Euro 2024 opener.
Of all the people arriving in Germany, perhaps no one has a more shocking and inspirational story than Ethan Walker, an 18-year-old footballer from Huntly.
On June 1, Ethan leaves Hampden Park and sets off for Munich on his bicycle with three others. The 1,200km journey will be a huge challenge for the strongest of the strong, but it's a whole different story for the lucky teenager who's alive. .
Last fall, Ethan was in the early stages of his football scholarship at a college in New York when he was hit by a car and seriously injured.
Right lung contusion, right scapula fracture, pelvic fracture, skull base fracture, left hand fracture, facial laceration, dysphagia and nerve damage, right leg multiligament and tibial plateau fracture, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and left cerebellar contusion.
To put it simply, he was fighting for his life, and for a brief moment, the odds didn't look good.
“The Doctor didn't think Ethan would succeed.”
Looking at him now, smiling and joking about his ordeal and giddy with excitement about the upcoming bike ride, you'd never know any of this.
There's so much positivity coming from him considering the trauma he and his family have been through.
“Soccer is my pride and joy,” he says. “When I got my scholarship to America, I was playing with Huntly’s under-18s.
“I went there last summer and started five of the six games. I settled in amazingly.”
What does he remember about that fateful day?
His breakfast, shower, protein shake. He went to college to take physical education classes and then went to the gym. Back at the dorm, he helped cut his friend's hair…and that was it.
His mother, Jaclyn, remembers much more. A mad dash to Edinburgh Airport, a flight to New York, and a drive to Buffalo County Hospital.
“I just wanted to go there and hold his hand and tell him he was going to be okay,” she says.
“I was gathering pieces of information. He was hit by a car that was going about 90 miles per hour.” [it was later deemed a no-fault accident].
“I was just shocked when I saw him. He was so into everything, he had wires coming out of his brain.
“The first neurologist I spoke to in the trauma ward was a nice guy, but most of what he said was in my head.
“There was another doctor who said he didn't think Ethan would survive, and was very politely asked not to say anything like that again. Or maybe not so politely, but… I don't understand.”
The surgery was the scariest. “They said the surgery could cause him to die, and I think that was a first for Paul.” [Ethan’s dad] “She saw me crying the whole time I was in the hospital,” her mother recalled.
Baby Boy Blue refuses walker
Jaclyn knew her son was a fighter, and that's exactly what he did. He initially lost consciousness and spent nearly two months in the hospital, but gradually recovered.
The nurses nicknamed him Baby Blue, but as soon as he saw the color of his eyes, he became Baby Boy Blue.
It was a long journey from the trauma ward to the intensive care unit. For six weeks, Jaclyn slept in the chair next to Ethan's father and his sister, close by.
He was being fed through a tube, and his words were quiet and almost indecipherable.
“He was in the hallway with a bunch of older patients trying to get some exercise,” Jaclyn recalls. “He was saying to them, 'Can you let me race?' and they couldn't understand him.
“He was very weak and still quite ill, but you could see his determination to get better. And he was a funny guy. All I had was a hamburger.”
Ethan's spirit was shining. Although his parents never stopped worrying, he returned home and his recovery began in earnest.
His speech gradually improved, he was more coordinated than before, his tubes came off, and he ate a hamburger.
He was advised to use a walker, but that never happened. He instead used crutches like a soccer player.
He then visited Professor Gordon McKay, a world-renowned surgeon based in Dunblane. Mackay, who played for Rangers during the Graeme Souness era, excels in the field of sports surgery.
“When Ethan came to see me, he still had a feeding tube,” says Professor McKay.
“He had all his other injuries, which were bad, plus five anterior cruciate ligament injuries in his knee. We reconstructed all his ligaments. I had to.
“The way he bounced back is completely ridiculous. After three months, he said he could go jogging, and I said, 'Fuck you.' Sure enough, he jogged on the spot.
“Every time I see him, he asks when he will play football again. I can't promise him anything, but from there we came up with the idea of competing in the Euros on bikes.”
“Keep telling yourself I’m going to play again.”
Starting out from Hampden are a footballer, a surgeon, a filmmaker (Martin Robertson, who is currently making a documentary about Ethan's story), and Stephen Colley, an infantryman in the Tartan Army.
How does Ethan feel about life after his ordeal?
“I felt like I could do anything,” he says.
Knowing what we now know about the accident, how does he view his recovery?
“Well, I think it's almost impossible,” he replied.
His love for soccer has not waned. He still keeps an eye on Huntley and checks on Aberdeen, but nothing will change on that front.
“I'm really looking forward to the drive to Munich as it will allow me to focus on my recovery. I'm running about 90 miles a day and I can't wait,” he says. I can do it.
“None of us have tickets for the Germany game. It would be great to get one, but just being in Munich would be great. It's going to be an incredible atmosphere.”
And beyond Germany? “Yes, I will be asked if I can play football again. There is no sign of that yet, but I want to do it and I keep telling myself that I can do it.”
How can you doubt him now when he has already defied expectations so many times?
No matter what obstacles he faces on his way to Munich, they will surely seem like coincidences to a boy with an indomitable spirit.
