BARRY McArthur has a huge smile on his face, despite being confined to a wheelchair, being dependent on wife Katy and not being able to play with his three young sons.

But Barry, who has multiple sclerosis, has hope in his 33 year-old heart, despite the setbacks of recent years.

Five years ago, the young man from Paisley travelled to Poland in a bid to win the battle with his wheelchair.

Then 28, Barry was convinced that the £10k he’d scraped together to fund a special vein irrigation treatment would pay off.

But the Katowice clinic experiment failed, offering little more than a false dawn to the many hopeful Scots who had travelled to Eastern Europe, such as radio legend Tim Stevens.

“I was okay for three or four months but from there my situation worsened,” Barry recalls of his trip with wife, Katy.

“I went back to Poland to see the doctors at the clinic and they checked me over. But it was a disappointing trip, with no MRI or scanning of the brain.

“I had no idea why I’d had felt better immediately after the vein irrigation treatment and why I’d gone back to the way I was. And I’m now in a wheelchair permanently.”

Next month however Barry has been offered a lifeline which could enable him to live out a life he’s dreamed of since he was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease in his early twenties.

He dreams of one day returning to work as a quantity surveyor or, if he really indulges his fantasy, to kick a ball in the park with his three little boys.

Barry, who has remitting MS, is set to undertake ground-breaking stem cell treatment in London. And he’s excited beyond belief.

“I’ve been researching stem cell treatments for MS and this treatment looks to be getting great results.

“But back in May when I spoke to my neurologist Colin O’Leary about the possibility of being treated by the NHS he didn’t offer any hope.

“In fact, he said to me he didn’t recommend I have the treatment, but he wished me all the best in my attempts to find an improvement.

“I was so desperate I looked abroad to clinics in Sweden for example and after weighing up the options decided to go to Mexico for the stem cell treatment.”

Barry’s brother-in-law Richard McFadyen, also a quantity surveyor, offered to pay for the flight and the cost of treatment.

“He’s an incredible man,” says Barry, his soft voice revealing his uncontained gratitude. “And when he told me this I fixed a date.”

However, Barry’s next conversation with his neurologist, a few months after his last in May, saw his life plans take off in a new direction.

“He decided he would now put me up for having stem cell treatment in London,” says Barry.

“And next month I’m set to go down to the Charing Cross hospital and have my first examination, to make sure my body can cope.”

MS is an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system attacks its own nerve cells. This affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing problems with muscle movement, balance and vision.

The new stem cell treatment involves using high doses of chemotherapy to “knock out” the existing faulty cells of the immune system, before rebuilding it using clean stem cells taken from the patient’s own blood.

The process has been describe as ‘like giving the immune system the chance to reboot.’

“Your immune system ends up healthy and clean,” he says.

Barry who worked as a fundraiser for the likes of the Anne Rowling Centre in Edinburgh, set up to find cures for neurodegenerative diseases, has never stopped researching the progress of treatments.

“I’ve been talking to people on social media from around the world and discovered people who’ve had great results with stem cell treatments.

“I’ve learned that it can take a couple of years from having the treatment to getting a major improvement but the likes of one Russian woman offers great hope when she said she can do something different with her body every day.”

The stem cell treatments however won’t work (at this stage at least) for the sufferers of the illness who have had the disease for more than ten years.

And not everyone will be able to tolerate the aggressive chemotherapy used.

“I’m sad that the likes of Tiger Tim won’t be able to benefit at the moment,” says Barry.

“Tim’s attitude, his positivity in dealing with the illness has been a great encourager for me.”

Hopefully, science will progress fast enough to help sufferers such as Tim, who has had the disease for more than 30 years.

Meantime, Barry waits, his bag packed and ready.

“Up until Christmas I was doing voluntary work, now I can’t do anything but wait, and hope,” he says.

“But I’m really optimistic about getting better with this new treatment.

“The results from around the world have been great and I’m sure stem cell treatments will offer the way ahead for people with degenerative illnesses.”

He adds, smiling; “I’m hopeful, that life will really be better for Katy and my boys.”