A Scots news photographer travelled 26,000 miles round the world on a 1991 motorcycle after a medical condition changed his life.

Maurice McDonald made the decision to realise a lifetime ambition after a virus led to his pancreas failing.

He is now thought to be the only person to circumnavigate the globe on a bike as a type 1 diabetic.

Maurice, 48, certainly had his challenges on the way.

As well as having to somehow keep his medication cold during the gruelling five-month trip, Maurice found himself squaring up to a grizzly bear in Canada.

He was forced to pitch his tent next to a live runway at New York’s JFK airport and was briefly jailed in Belarus at a border checkpoint.

Maurice McDonald posing at a salmon glacier in Alaska

He set up camp near a demilitarised zone in South Korea and woke up to a live-fire exercise.

On top of that, Maurice narrowly avoided being crushed by two helicopters which landed right next to his tent in Las Vegas.

In Siberia, sturdy Russian glue was used to hold his carburettor together after ethanol-infused fuel from the earlier leg in the US rotted all the rubber parts.

Maurice said: “The bear situation will live with me forever. I was driving slowly along a road in the Yukon (north-west Canada) and a vehicle on the other side flashed me.

“I turned a corner slowly and at the side of the road, right next to me, was this enormous grizzly, standing at full height with its arms out.

“I looked at it, it looked at me and there we were in the middle of nowhere. It seemed to last a long time.

“In desperation, I revved the bike. Incredibly, it turned tail and ran away. My bike revving frightened it off.

“That night, I thought better of pitching my tent in the woods. I camped at a petrol station
that was well lit-up.”

Maurice, who is originally from Glasgow but now lives near Loch Ness, caught an infection during an earlier motorcycle trip through Africa.

Maurice McDonald in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Bridge

But it is not known what led to the virus that attacked his pancreas in 2008, causing diabetes.

He now uses two different types of insulin, which he injects three or four times a day.

Maurice, whose career with his photographic agency and the Press Association took him to war zones, including Iraq, said the biggest challenge of his round-the-world trip was keeping the insulin cold at all times.

He said: “The amount of medication took up a lot of space on the trip. Apart from that, I had my tent, sleeping bag, clothes and a stove.”

Maurice shipped his Yamaha XTZ Super Tenere bike from continent to continent.

Arriving in New York, he had to pitch his tent next to a runway at JFK. He said: “Loud doesn’t even cut it.”

Maurice was incarcerated in Belarus for a short time.

He said: “It was a paperwork misunderstanding. They were nice people.”

He added: “In South Korea, I had no choice but to camp out near the demilitarised zone. I was awakened to the sound of artillery in a live-fire exercise.”

In Georgia, Maurice’s bike attracted attention from a crew member of hit US TV series The Walking Dead and the Scot ended up being given a tour of the set, which, he said, was “outstanding”.

Touring from California to Oregon, Maurice passed another Scots adventurer, runner Jamie McDonald, on the way.

Maurice's trusty bike also took him to California

From Canada, Maurice’s bike was flown to Sydney, Australia, and he rode across the country.

The bike was flown to South Korea from Australia before Maurice rode to the border with North Korea, and eventually made his way to the coast to catch a ferry for Vladivostok, Russia.

Maurice journeyed an average of 372 miles a day for five months. He rode 25,909 miles and used three sets of tyres and three sets of chains and sprockets. He had eight oil changes and hundreds of fuel fill-ups.

Maurice said: “There were some memorable moments. But probably the biggest thing I learned is that people are the fou   rth emergency service.

“In every country, the people were so friendly and went out of their way to help when things went awry.

“In all points of the globe, there is so much goodness in everyone.”

Maurice is now planning a trip from Alaska to Argentina.