A Carlisle veteran – told he would never walk again – is due to complete an 1,000-mile charity trek today.
Mark Harding’s achievement of walking from John o’Groats to Land’s End will be marked with an interview on ITV’s This Morning this morning.
The Lance Corporal was shot through the neck while serving in Afghanistan in 2010. Parts of his spine were shattered and he was paralysed from the neck down.
Despite being told he would never walk again, after two-and-a-half years of rehabilitation, he has regained movement and began fundraising in 2012.
He started his walk on May 13 in aid of Scotty’s Little Soldiers, the charity for bereaved military children. He has so far raised over £12,000.
Mark, 47, said: “I’ve just been raising as much money as I can and giving back to charities that do so much for the military community. I attended the Scotty’s Ball a few years ago with a friend, and I’ve wanted to do something for Scotty’s ever since. The work the charity does is brilliant. Seeing everything they do for bereaved military children – it’s a real wake up call.”
In 2021, Mark was named ITV’s Pride of Britain Regional Fundraiser of the Year.
He has taken on challenges including climbing Skiddaw, walking from Cumbria to London and representing Great Britain in the European dragon boat championships.
On this walk, near Carlisle, he was run over by a van, but said he pushed on after a hospital check-up found he was okay.
He added: “As a result of nerve damage from being shot through the neck, I can’t have children now. For me, this is a way of helping everyone else’s kids. It’s a way for me to have a really positive impact on children’s lives.
“Due to my injury, I have no feeling in my right leg and my foot drags when I’m tired, so I’ve done a lot of the walk on crutches with everything I need for the journey in a rucksack.
“I’ve got a notebook full of stuff that I would like to do and I’m always having new ideas. Being disabled, I think a lot of people write you off, especially if it’s an obvious disability, like if you’re missing a limb or in a wheelchair. I don’t mean that in a bad way – it comes from a decent place – but I think you’re seen as a bit more fragile.
“But a lot of the people I served with who were also injured have gone on to do really amazing things. That military mindset doesn’t just leave you because you’re disabled. I still exist in that headspace.”
Mark attributes this mindset to part of the reason he was able to regain more function after being shot than any of his doctors anticipated.
He added: “I don’t really think about what I’ve done – I’m always focused on what’s next. That was instilled into me when I was in rehabilitation. For instance, once I had got out the wheelchair and walked with crutches a couple of times, I was straight on to learning how to walk without them.
“The faster I progressed, the faster I could go home and see my family. It’s just like when you go back to the army, you have a set drill where you go through your weapons training, and as soon as you’ve got it you move on to the next thing. There’s no need to go back again.
“I constantly want to keep on progressing and pushing myself. I think I’ve always been this way. When I was in the army, I always wanted to be as good as I could. Even when the doctors told me I was paralysed, I was focussed on keeping the ball rolling, keeping my momentum going, because that’s how I improve.”
To donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bigmilesforlittlesmiles
