Darren Fletcher just didn’t like the stat. A doctor’s leaftlet outlined the risk of spinal damage if he had an epidural. “It was one in 500,000 or something,” he says. “Massively against. But I recognised the number. It was similar to the ratio of people who suffer ulcerative colitis.” So, he decided to have major bowel surgery without pain relief. Three times.

Only when Fletcher takes you through his story does the extreme mental toughness become clear. Only when you hear the gory, life-or-death details of tackling extreme colitis do you appreciate what sufferers go through, what families go through. And how useful that Fletcher takes Scottish matter-of-factness to the nth degree. “Get on with it,” is a stock phrase.

“I don’t want any sympathy