Durban’s Mark rises to 5km challenge

ASSAGAY resident, Mark Charlesworth does not shy away from a challenge, not even mammoth ones!

He will tackle this year’s East Coast Radio 5km Big Walk on 19 May to raise funds for five different charities, a feat which will take him around five hours to complete. Mark broke his neck at the C5/C6 vertebrae level with additional damage to T1 as a result of a freak motor vehicle accident at 60km per hour on 21 November 2004. He is classified as a quadriplegic and at the time, doctors said he would never move again from the neck down.

The doctors had no idea how stubborn and determined Mark was to walk again. “I am what you might call a ‘walking quadriplegic’ and have gained back some function over the years in both my arms and legs albeit far from all, as I still have a lot of muscle wastage and other serious issues associated with being a quadriplegic.

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“I cannot stand up without using my arms to push myself upright and I use a frame to walk with, without this I am unable to even take one step forward and will simply just fall over. I have no pain sensation from the chest downwards and although I can still feel touch I cannot feel the difference between hot and cold. I also suffer from other complications relating to a spinal cord injury.

“To this day doctors still cannot believe I am able to walk at all with my level of a neck injury. My progress over the last 14 years has continued to astound them and defy medical logic,” he said.

To show he was not willing to give up, in May 2012 Mark climbed the 550 steps of the Moses Mabhida Stadium arch just because people said it was impossible for him to do, and in the process raised over R200 000, all of which he gave to various spinal cord and cancer-related charities. Mark Charlesworth climbed the over 550 steps on the arch of Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Conquers the impossible

“I am a very goal-driven person and like to set myself seemingly impossible physical challenges that nearly everyone is convinced I will be unable to achieve, it gives me something to work towards and the best part is proving everyone wrong when I succeed.

“At the end of May 2018 I announced I would begin training to walk the East Coast Radio Big Walk the following year, in order to give you some idea how crazy that sounded I had not been able to walk more than 150m with my walking frame prior to this and that was incredibly difficult and exhausting,” he said.

During his first training session on 24 May 2018, the sheer enormity of the challenge was highlighted when he only managed to walk 500m in one hour with two rest stops. Fast forward eight months and Mark has now completed 96 really gruelling training sessions, walked around 169km in approximately 185 hours 32 minutes and is only 70 per cent of the way through his race preparation.

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“Although my fitness levels have improved dramatically and I am a lot faster than I was when I started, I am nowhere near able to walk 5km yet and even if I could, at my current race pace it will still take me over five hours to complete the event, if that is even possible, which most people still believe is not. So why bother to put in all this time and effort just to attempt to walk 5km, surely it is not worth it? For me the answer is simple, I walk because I can, albeit on a walking frame. There are lots of people in wheelchairs that would love to have the opportunity just to be able to take one step. I understand that and appreciate I am one of the lucky ones even though I have a spinal cord injury, I am very grateful for all I am able to do,” he said.

Mark and his team have chosen to support five very worthy charities; Highway Hospice, QuadPara SA, Saint Giles Durban, The Chris Burger/Petro Jackson Players Fund and Vema Paramedics and 100 per cent of all funds raised will go to these charities.

He said he would love to try and raise R500 000 in total for these organisations. If you would like to join Mark and his team on the day of the race or be involved in any way to support or assist, contact Mark at mark@550steps.co.za or on 082 440 4215.

Follow his training updates and race preparation on his Facebook page (Mark Charlesworth) or the Twitter feed @OneStepBeyondSA.

To make a donation towards this cause, banking details are: Nedbank Corporate Saver (Not Nedbank Ltd); Account no.: 9017190993; Branch code 720026; Account name: 550 Steps. Send a confirmation email and proof of payment to donations@550steps.co.za in order to help Mark keep track of incoming funds and allow him to personally thank you. Tax certificates are available on request.

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