Blind adventurer on coping with paralysis
Mark Pollock is an Irish adventurer and motivational speaker. In 1998, he lost his sight and in 2009, he became the first blind man to trek to the South Pole.
Last summer though, he was reported to have been sleep-walking when he fell from a bedroom window during the night. He was left paralysed from the waist down.
Nick Higham went to meet the explorer and his fiancée, Simone George, as he leaves the National Centre for Spinal Injuries at Stoke Mandeville after seven months of treatment.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12314687
http://www.markpollock.com/
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Blind Adventurer On Coping With Paralysis
Started by
Apparelyzed
, Jan 29 2011 07:20 PM
6 replies to this topic
Top#2
Illinois Boy
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#3
mellowgator
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Posted 30 January 2011 - 01:11 AM
dang that's one unlucky son of a gun. i would think if he's so strong mentally to achieved all he has that he can do well with his latest challenge.
i'm thinking that he would be a good canditate for a seeing eye/service dog if there is such a thing.
mellowgator
i'm thinking that he would be a good canditate for a seeing eye/service dog if there is such a thing.
mellowgator
hi fellow gimps! i'm a c 6/7 quad and have been injured since 1986. i was in a roll over hydroplane accident and it took hours for the paramedics to get me out of the car in the pouring rain. that definately wasn't my day. but alas life goes on!
#4
wheeliebear75
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Posted 30 January 2011 - 03:43 AM
Well at least here in CA USA as a PARTIALLY-blind person who's a para I was told that the seeing eye dog schools do NOT select their dogs for the tasks that a person in a wheelchair would need & are not training any & that the only ones who do have guide dogs AND are in wheelchairs got their dogs prior to needing the wheelchairs, & the school that trains service dogs wouldn't take me do to my vision or lack there of. HOWEVER.....you can have one trained by a dog trainer to do the tasks required. Honestly I think his biggest problem is going to be going out & about; it's one thing to do it as a blind person with the use of your feet to tell you what you're walking on (grass, sidewalk, or dirt) & where the curbs are with the use of a can and/or feet.....can't do that with a chair. IF he can get a dog trained to do both guide work AND work with the wheelchair he's adventurous & ballsy enough he may do quite well all considering.
Just my 2 bits worth as a person who IS sight-impaired (20/300) AND in a wheelchair.
Just my 2 bits worth as a person who IS sight-impaired (20/300) AND in a wheelchair.
*Enjoy every sunset, but be grateful for every dawn.*
*Wheelchairs are made of a special ocular magnetic alloy......they're "eyeball magnets".*
*I USE a wheelchair, that does NOT make ME a wheelchair!*
*Wheelchairs are made of a special ocular magnetic alloy......they're "eyeball magnets".*
*I USE a wheelchair, that does NOT make ME a wheelchair!*
#5
nomis
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Posted 30 January 2011 - 11:14 AM
My mind boggles at the challenge Mark Pollock faces. It's an extreme example of risk taking and trust in others. We've had other similarly challenged people here on the forum and they experience life beyond my understanding, leaving me much humbled.
"It's the notion that there is no perfection ~ that this is a broken world and we live with broken hearts and broken lives but still that is no alibi for anything. On the contrary, you have to stand up and say hallelujah under those circumstances. " - Leonard Cohen
#6
guido
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Posted 30 January 2011 - 11:17 AM
nomis, on 30 January 2011 - 11:14 AM, said:
My mind boggles at the challenge Mark Pollock faces. It's an extreme example of risk taking and trust in others. We've had other similarly challenged people here on the forum and they experience life beyond my understanding, leaving me much humbled.
True - funny thing is, people say that of us and I certainly never feel it of myself. Guess it's a thing of relativities.
for UK residents - DisabledGear.com - the FREE-Ads website for 2nd hand disability equipment.
#7
rue2you
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Posted 30 January 2011 - 09:43 PM
So true Nomis.....I'm humbled too.
"We cannot choose the road we are asked to travel, but we can choose to enjoy the ride!"
www.aliciareagan.com
www.aliciareagan.com
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