Mark Pollock
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Mark Pollock (born 29 February 1976) is an international motivational speaker, explorer, and author from
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
who became the first blind man to race to the
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
. As part of a three-man team called South Pole Flag, alongside Simon O'Donnell and Inge Solheim he took 43 days in January 2009 to complete the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race. Pollock asserted his disability had slowed him down but they finished fifth overall from the six teams that finished the race. He had participated against nine other teams, including that of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
personality
Ben Fogle Benjamin Myer Fogle, (born 3 November 1973) is an English broadcaster, writer and adventurer, best known for his presenting roles with British television channels Channel 5, BBC and ITV. Early life Fogle is the son of English actress Juli ...
and the Olympic gold medallist
James Cracknell James Edward Cracknell, (born 5 May 1972) is a British athlete, rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours List. Biography Cracknell began rowing whilst ...
, a friend of Pollock. An avid rower Pollock has won bronze and silver medals at the 2002
Commonwealth Rowing Championships The Commonwealth Rowing Championships are a regatta for rowers from Commonwealth nations held in conjunction with the Commonwealth Games. Rowing is classed as an 'optional' sport for the purposes of the Commonwealth Games, but is currently not in ...
in Nottingham, England and has also written a book titled ''Making It Happen''. Around 2020, he was involved in the creation of Collaborative Cures.


Early life and background

Pollock was born to Barbara and Johnny in
Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) * ...
, County Down. When Mark was five, he lost the sight of his right eye and was forced during the remainder of his childhood to avoid contact team sports to preserve the vision in his left eye. He was educated at the
Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...
where he was a keen rower. In 2002, Pollock graduated from
University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
with a Masters of Business Studies. He later studied Business and Economics in
Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...
, where he became a champion schools rower and captain of the university's rowing club but aged 22 he lost the sight in his left eye and was then suddenly blind. In 2010, just weeks before his wedding, Pollock fell from an upstairs window, breaking his back and fracturing his skull. This caused bleeding on the brain and resulted in paralysis.


Blindness

Pollock has been blind since the age of twenty-two when his left
retina The retina (from la, rete "net") is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then ...
became detached. This had a devastating effect on him as he believed at the time that blind people could not have a life which he perceived as normal – that they could not participate in sport, work, study, socialise or date. Before his operation he had been about to embark on a city job in London, UK but after it he was left with no option but to return home to his mother.


Coping

Pollock enrolled in a course to help come to terms with his disability. He left for Dublin with his guide dog Larry and began putting himself forward for job interviews. Prospective employers were uncertain as to how to approach him. Eventually the father of one of his college friends assigned him to organising corporate entertainment. He returned to rowing and won bronze and silver medals for
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
in the 2002
Commonwealth Rowing Championships The Commonwealth Rowing Championships are a regatta for rowers from Commonwealth nations held in conjunction with the Commonwealth Games. Rowing is classed as an 'optional' sport for the purposes of the Commonwealth Games, but is currently not in ...
. He engaged in other athletic pursuits, including running six marathons in seven days with a sighted partner across the Gobi Desert, China in 2003 when he raised tens of thousands of euro for the charity
Sightsavers International Sightsavers is an international non-governmental organisation that works with partners in developing countries to treat and prevent avoidable blindness, and promote equality for people with visual impairments and other disabilities. It is based i ...
. On 10 April 2004, he competed in the
North Pole Marathon The North Pole Marathon is run over the classic marathon distance at the North Pole. The race is run on small, loop about 10 times over hard snow or the frozen ice of the Arctic Ocean. There are individual competitions with male and female di ...
on the sixth anniversary of his blindness. To mark the 10th anniversary of blindness Pollock explored the challenge of racing to the South Pole. Uncertain over whether to make the trip to the South Pole and concerned over the impact of
sastrugi Sastrugi, or zastrugi, are features formed by erosion of snow by wind. They are found in polar regions, and in snowy, wind-swept areas of temperate regions, such as frozen lakes or mountain ridges. Sastrugi are distinguished by upwind-facing poi ...
on his blindness, Pollock consulted with the explorer
Pat Falvey Pat Falvey is an Irish high-altitude mountaineer, expedition leader, polar explorer, entrepreneur, author, corporate/personal trainer/coach, and motivational speaker. He was the first person to complete the Seven Summits (Bass) twice, with t ...
who had completed the journey eighteen months previously.


Writing career

Pollock wrote ''Making It Happen'' to detail his struggle with blindness and his attempts at rebuilding his life. This included running numerous marathons, establishing his own business and becoming an international public speaker. It can only be bought online from his website.


South Pole trek

The trek cost Pollock around €250,000. His training included spending time in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
to acclimatise himself to the sastrugi. Pollock, O'Donnell and Solheim travelled 770 kilometres, averaging fourteen hours journey time each day, whilst lugging 90 kilo sleds behind them. He pulled a 200 lb sled for at least twelve hours each day, for a consecutive forty-three days. Temperatures dropped as low as −50C during the expedition, with the team experiencing blisters, hunger and extreme exhaustion. O'Donnell endured severe
frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the ha ...
on one ear and fingers and Solheim lost a filling from his tooth due to the extreme temperatures. Pollock told the '' Irish Independent'' that they "just can't believe" they had arrived and that they "only started to believe it was possible when we were one hour away, which was an amazing feeling". He described how they did not know what to do when they arrived, describing "such a burst of energy" that had engulfed them. Pollock returned to Ireland on a 3 February 2009 where he was greeted at
Dublin Airport Dublin Airport (Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinstown, north of Dublin, and south of ...
, having been delayed by the extreme weather conditions which gripped Dublin that week.


Television

On 7 February 2009, he appeared on the
RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís ...
chat show ''
Tubridy Tonight ''Tubridy Tonight'' is a talk show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired on RTÉ One for five seasons between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews (usually three per show), audience participation and live music from both a guest mu ...
''. Pollock hosted the documentary series '' Yes I Can'' which aired in November 2011 on
Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...
.


Paralysis

In July 2010 Mark fell from a second storey window. He broke his back and was left paralysed. Mark is now living his own lessons, deciding how to overcome this second blow. A pioneer, he is exploring the frontiers of spinal cord injury recovery through aggressive physical therapy and robotic technology. In 2015 he sued Enda and Madeline Cahill, his friends and owners of the property he was staying at when he had his fall, claiming the Cahills had disregarded a “reasonably foreseeable risk” of him being seriously injured and that they should have made sure the window remained closed or at least warned Mr Pollock it was open, saying “There was no justification whatsoever to neglect such a risk." The court found the couple liable saying he was “satisfied that the Cahills failed to discharge the common law duty of care they owed as occupiers. The open window was a real risk to Mr Pollock. They created that risk.” Mr Pollock's lawyers confirmed he had limited his claim to a maximum of £2 million, the limit of the Cahills' household insurance, so the couple did not have to pay out themselves.


Project Walk

Pollock has embarked on an ambitious experimental treatment in an effort to overcome his paralysis in cooperation with an innovative treatment centre in California called Project Walk.


Honors and awards

In addition to the honorary degree awarded by Trinity College, Dublin mentioned above, Pollock has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Queen's University Belfast, and has been named a
Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government ...
. Mark also was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2015 by Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In 2012, Pollock was honored with a Rehab
People of the Year Award The People of the Year Awards was an annual award show in Ireland. Organised by the Rehab Group, it was televised by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The Awards provided a unique opportunity for the Irish public to honour outstanding contribut ...
. In 2020, Pollock was awarded UCD Alumnus of the Year in Business.


References


External links


Official site

Official site

South Pole blog


on ''
Tubridy Tonight ''Tubridy Tonight'' is a talk show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired on RTÉ One for five seasons between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews (usually three per show), audience participation and live music from both a guest mu ...
''
Yes I Can

Mark Pollock Also Does Speaking. His Speaking Profile, Videos and Fee Info.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, Mark 1976 births Living people Irish blind people 20th-century Irish explorers Irish motivational speakers Irish male rowers 20th-century Irish travel writers Travel writers from Northern Ireland Kayakers Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland People from Holywood, County Down Rowers from Northern Ireland Male writers from Northern Ireland 21st-century writers from Northern Ireland 21st-century non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland Irish disabled sportspeople 21st-century autobiographers from Northern Ireland British disabled sportspeople Explorers from Northern Ireland British motivational speakers British male marathon runners 21st-century Irish explorers