Inverness bodybuilder vows MS ‘won’t define me’ after medal success at Scotland’s biggest competition at a sold-out Perth Concert Hall goes viral with 9.4 million views
In his darkest moments, Matthew Green contemplated taking his own life.
To the former Inverness electrician's eternal gratitude, one serious attempt failed.
Battered and broken by physical and emotional challenges, he found he no longer wanted to occupy the body ravaged by debilitating illness.
It is testament to human spirit, his courage and the love of those who rallied around in his time of greatest need that, years later, Matthew could proudly parade that body before a sold-out audience at Perth Concert Hall.
In defiance of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and its crippling symptoms, those black thoughts have given way to bright stage lights.
First diagnosed in October 2012, aged 21, the 34-year-old dad of two is now a medal-winning bodybuilder - and inspiring a worldwide following.
An incredible 9.4 million viewers turned a video of his first foray into competitive bodybuilding viral last month.
WATCH: MATTHEW GREEN’S MEDAL-WINNING PERFORMANCE HAS ATTRACTED WELL OVER 9 MILLION VIEWS:
Such is the scale of interest at home and abroad, Matthew has taken to using Google translate to respond to all of his fan mail.
The Forge Gym member travelled to Perth last month with modest expectations to compete in the disability class, a “suck it and see” try out at Scotland’s biggest ever bodybuilding competition, The PCA Scotland, on Sunday April 6.
He returned triumphantly with a silver medal and is now planning a determined drive to achieve gold at a variety of events in 2026.
Matthew’s relapsing-remitting form of MS remains challenging, with wheelchair use a necessity and profound weakness down one side.
But a new drug called Ocrevus has stabilised symptoms. He may have MS, but through hard graft and courage he is refusing to let the disease define him.
It wasn’t always like that.
“If you ask about my darkest moments, it was as low as you can go, unfortunately. I hit rock bottom,” Matthew recalled.
“My first daughter was born in 2010, my mum Sheila passed away in 2011 and then a year later I was diagnosed with MS, at 21.
“At my lowest point, I just didn’t want to be here. I didn’t just contemplate suicide, I tried taking my life.
“Something kept me here and I’m so glad. My two daughters, Rachel who is 14 and Ellie who is six - my biggest fan who comes to the gym with me - have given me the fight to carry on.
“My marriage broke down in 2021. My girlfriend Alissa has been such a massive support to me in turning my life around, as has the bodybuilding community around The Forge.
“Alissa, at the time, was just a friend, but was very supportive from day one. She noticed changes in me like my arms and chest getting bigger and harder and my confidence grew.
“I started to feel able to use the gym’s posing mirrors and then eventually I made the decision - ‘let’s do this’.
“It has taken me changing to a mindset of ‘work with what you’ve got’. I even have ‘Mind Over Matter’ tattooed on my wrist.
“I basically kept my head in the game and progressed. In January this year, I decided to go for it - to put myself out there and go on stage.”
It is hard for Matthew to describe to anyone fortunate enough not to have suffered MS, just what he goes through on a daily basis.
Our video of him climbing and descending the stairs, gives some insight.
“I have to think a lot about my right side, which is very weak, but if I focus and think ‘I can do it’, I always know I’ll find a way,” he said.
“I knew a couple of people whose family members were diagnosed with MS and I was always told ‘use it, or lose it’.
“You can either sit back and take it, in which case you will deteriorate a lot faster, or you can fight it, so I say yes, I’ve got MS, but MS hasn’t got me.”
Matthew has developed a whole range of skills and techniques to complete what most would see as straightforward everyday tasks, even learning to write again with his unfamiliar left hand.
The gradual deterioration and strain almost got him, but sheer grit and determination won through.
WATCH: MATTHEW GREEN’S COURAGE IN DEFYING MS IS INSPIRING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE WORLD:
“After diagnosis, it did take a while to get my head around it all. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t understand MS,” he admitted.
“I took lots of different medications - some worked, some didn’t, some really didn’t. Then, eventually, my body started dropping its right side.
“My right side does do stuff and I work it, and push it as much as I can, but I can’t hold something steady with my right hand. In my right leg, the control is completely gone.
“I have to really think about standing and moving. My right side is rubbish, but my left side’s good, if not as controllable as before.
“I joined the gym about two and a half to three years ago. After my marriage deteriorated, I knew I needed another focus.
“I was working out in PT sessions with a guy George Rae, upstairs from the Forge Gym. We ended up doing sessions in the gym and, before too long, the encouragement I got in the gym environment made me sign up - and I’ve not left.
“I train five days a week, in the gym for four hours each morning, but religiously have Saturdays and Sundays off unless I’ve missed a session through the week.
“I feel good about myself, and in myself, now and it has helped me understand my MS. I can predict when I’m going to get overwhelmed or suffer a slight flare-up.
“Psychologically, MS presents challenges. Your brain is not wired the same way and I find music calms me down. When I get a bit flustered and frustrated, overwhelmed, I just put my headphones on, shut my eyes and go into that wee world.
“I come out of it, re-set if you like.”
That calm and control, that understanding of his MS, undoubtedly helped Matthew focus at a packed Perth Concert Hall, albeit not before a jittery build-up.
“I entered very much just to see if it was something I liked and wanted to pursue,” he said.
“I went through three months of preparation, consuming just over 1000 calories a day so my skin elasticated to my frame and showed off all the wee contours.
“The day before the competition, I was really nervous. I was shaking, white as a sheet.
“They tried to get me to do my routine first and I declined, saying it was my first time and I’d never even seen a routine on stage before.
“They rearranged it so I went third, which was very helpful.
“The place was packed when I went on stage, but the nerves just left me. All I had in the back of my head was my personal trainer saying ‘you’ve done the hard bit, Matthew - now just show it off’.
“So that’s what I did- and I actually had good fun up on stage.
“With the video gone viral, I’m getting messages I can only read and reply to with Google Translate.
“They are saying how incredible I am, just how much of an inspiration I am. It is unbelievable
“My motto is now ‘what’s your excuse?’ because every five or six comments there is only someone that says ‘I have no excuse, I’m able-bodied’.
“I did the stage stuff in a wheelchair and lots of people have commented about how my legs have more definition than theirs, and they can walk.
“It is purely down to the work I’ve done. I’ve kept going.”
“People give themselves excuses not to go to the gym. They wake and talk themselves out of it. I give myself reasons to go.
“In my head, I talk myself through that door.
“I hope I can inspire others, those with MS and those without.”
