‘They said I would never walk, I took to the skies instead’: NOrthern Ireland man releases biography after making history

Matthew Monaghan, from Newtownabbey, has released ‘The Weight of Progress’, a personal account of life with a rare neuromuscular condition, the barriers he faced growing up and the extraordinary journey that eventually saw him take to the skies.

From childhood, Matthew, 36, found himself battling assumptions that disability also meant lack of intelligence. He writes about having to fight for the right to be educated fairly and for the chance to prove that his ambitions were not unrealistic.

In the book he remembers one particular comment his mum made that has always stuck with him: “Matthew, you may not understand yet, but you are being discriminated against.”

In his book, Matthew writes candidly about the more subtle humiliations of growing up visibly different, including one sports day moment that stayed with him for years.

“I was very young when it happened, probably about six or seven. I remember winning the egg and spoon race and, for a child of that age, it should have been one of the happiest, most proud moments.

“Not for me, a teacher had glued the egg to my spoon. The memory of feeling so awfully bad that I had cheated will never leave me. I desperately wanted to play fairly, even if that meant losing the race. The victory wasn’t mine. It belonged to the glue.”

But ‘The Weight of Progress’ doesn’t rest on one chapter of Matthew’s life. The memoir moves through adolescence, friendships, work, sexuality and independence, showing how prejudice often follows disabled people into every part of life, not just school or healthcare.

Despite this, Matthew’s book is not a story of surrender. He believes that out of the injustices came a new and unexpected direction. He went on to apply for a flying scholarship for disabled people, a decision that would alter the course of his life. Flying became more than a hobby or challenge. It became a route back to himself.

And, in the book he describes the moment the shift became real: “I was going to learn to fly.”

From there, readers can follow his progress through training, self-doubt and determination to a point that once seemed impossible.

He said: “Flying wasn’t just something I wanted to do anymore. It was who I was meant to be.”

That sense of purpose would carry Matthew to one of the defining milestones of his life. In 2025, after years of persistence, adaptation and training, he became the first disabled pilot to land a plane solo at Belfast International Airport.

“From being told I’d never walk, to walking unaided. From being told life would be small, to becoming a pilot,” explained Matthew: “If this book has done anything, I hope it shows that progress is possible, not just for me, but for anyone staring down their own can’t.”

Now a pilot, motivational speaker and growing social media commentator, Matthew is using his story to challenge the assumptions that still shape public attitudes to disability.