Mark Pollock
Encyclopedia
Mark Pollock is an adventurer, athlete, rower, kayaker, author and international motivational speaker from Northern Ireland
who became the first blind
man to reach the South Pole
. As part of a three-man team called South Pole Flag, alongside Simon O'Donnell and Inge Solheim he took just over three weeks in January 2009 to complete the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race to his destination. Pollock admitted his disability had slowed him down but they finished fifth overall from six teams. He participated against nine other teams, including that of BBC
personality Ben Fogle
and the Olympic
gold medal
list James Cracknell
, a friend of Pollock. An avid rower Pollock has won bronze
and silver medal
s at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
in Manchester
, England
and has also written a book titled Making It Happen. On 7 February 2009 he appeared on the RTÉ One
chat show Tubridy Tonight
.
, County Down
. He had been having problems with both retina
s since he was a child. When he was five years old, he lost all sight in his right eye, with the rest of his childhood being spent attempting to avoid rough team sports, in order to preserve the vision in his left eye. He studied Business and Economics in Trinity College, Dublin
, where he became a champion schools rower and captain of the university's rowing club. The college later awarded him an honourary degree following confirmation of his blindness.
s became detached partially due to the injury he had previously sustained. When he woke up in his hospital bed he realised that he could no longer see and also learned of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement
, a fact he heard from a radio located in the nurses' station. The Agreement's signing uplifted him but he did not fully realise the extent of his injuries as he had bandages over his eyes. Two months later he found out that he would never see again. 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
, England
but after it was left with no option but to return home to his mother.
in the 2002 Commonwealth Games
. 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. On 10 April 2004, he competed in the North Pole Arctic Marathon on the sixth anniversary of his blindness. The tenth anniversary coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement which brought constant reminders of his condition.
He is now a company adviser based in Dublin. Uncertain over whether to make the trip to the South Pole and concerned over the impact of sastrugi
on his blindness, Pollock consulted with the explorer Pat Falvey
who had completed the journey eighteen months previously.
, establishing his own business and becoming an international public speaker. It can only be bought online from his website.
250,000. His training included spending five hours in June 2008 pounding the streets with his father, dragging two tractor tyres behind him and spending time in Norway
to acclimatise himself to the sastrugi. Pollock, O'Donnell and Solheim travelled 770 kilometres over twenty-two days, averaging fourteen hours journey time each day, whilst lugging 90 kilogram
sleds behind them. He pulled a 200lb
sled for at least twelve hours each day, for a consecutive forty-four days. His blindness slowed his team down and created difficulties such as pitching their tent, which had to be carried out by O'Donnell and Solheim. Temperatures dropped as low as -50C during the expedition, with the team suffering from blister
s, hunger and extreme exhaustion. O'Donnell endured severe frostbite
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
, although he was delayed by the extreme weather conditions
which gripped Dublin that week. He is now working on another book about his participation in the race. Pollock's father has also mentioned other challenges his son intends to partake in, including “kite skiing
, whatever that is” although he hopes he will do “something easy like a few marathons instead”.
which airs in November 2011 on Setanta Sports
.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
who became the first blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
man to reach the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
. As part of a three-man team called South Pole Flag, alongside Simon O'Donnell and Inge Solheim he took just over three weeks in January 2009 to complete the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race to his destination. Pollock admitted his disability had slowed him down but they finished fifth overall from six teams. He participated against nine other teams, including that of BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
personality Ben Fogle
Ben Fogle
Ben Fogle is an English television presenter, adventurer and writer.-Early life:Fogle is the son of actress Julia Foster and broadcasting veterinary surgeon Bruce Fogle...
and the Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
list James Cracknell
James Cracknell
James Cracknell, OBE is a British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist and adventurer. Cracknell is married to TV and radio presenter Beverley Turner; they have three children. In the New Year Honours List, 2004, he was appointed OBE for services to sport...
, a friend of Pollock. An avid rower Pollock has won bronze
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
and silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
s at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and has also written a book titled Making It Happen. On 7 February 2009 he appeared on the RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
chat show Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight is an Irish chat show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired for five series on RTÉ One between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews , audience participation and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...
.
Early life and background
Pollock was born to Barbara and Johnny in HolywoodHolywood
Holywood is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the shore of Belfast Lough, between Belfast and Bangor. Holywood Exchange and Belfast City Airport are nearby. The town hosts an annual jazz and blues festival.-Name:...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
. He had been having problems with both retina
Retina
The vertebrate retina is a light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The optics of the eye create an image of the visual world on the retina, which serves much the same function as the film in a camera. Light striking the retina initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical...
s since he was a child. When he was five years old, he lost all sight in his right eye, with the rest of his childhood being spent attempting to avoid rough team sports, in order to preserve the vision in his left eye. He studied Business and Economics in Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, where he became a champion schools rower and captain of the university's rowing club. The college later awarded him an honourary degree following confirmation of his blindness.
Blindness
Operation
Pollock has been fully blind since the age of twenty-two in 1998 when his retinaRetina
The vertebrate retina is a light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The optics of the eye create an image of the visual world on the retina, which serves much the same function as the film in a camera. Light striking the retina initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical...
s became detached partially due to the injury he had previously sustained. When he woke up in his hospital bed he realised that he could no longer see and also learned of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
, a fact he heard from a radio located in the nurses' station. The Agreement's signing uplifted him but he did not fully realise the extent of his injuries as he had bandages over his eyes. Two months later he found out that he would never see again. 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
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
but after it was left with no option but to return home to his mother.
Coping
Pollock then enrolled in a course to help him cope with his newfound blindness. He left for Dublin with his guide dog Larry and began putting himself forward for job interviews. Prospective employers were uncertain 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 IrelandNorthern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in the 2002 Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
. He engaged in other athletic pursuits, including running six marathons in seven days with a sighted partner across the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
in 2003 when he raised tens of thousands of euro for the charity Sightsavers International. On 10 April 2004, he competed in the North Pole Arctic Marathon on the sixth anniversary of his blindness. The tenth anniversary coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement which brought constant reminders of his condition.
He is now a company adviser based in Dublin. Uncertain over whether to make the trip to the South Pole and concerned over the impact of sastrugi
Sastruga
Sastrugi, or zastrugi are sharp irregular grooves or ridges formed on a snow surface by wind erosion and deposition, and found in polar and temperate snow regions. They differ from sand dunes in that the ridges are markedly parallel to the prevailing winds.Sastrugi are various surface...
on his blindness, Pollock consulted with the explorer Pat Falvey
Pat Falvey
Pat Falvey led the first ever Irish expedition to reach the South Pole on 8th January, 2008. The party also included Dr. Clare O'Leary, Jonathan Bradshaw, and Shaun Menzies...
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, kayaking across the Irish SeaIrish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
, 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 €Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
250,000. His training included spending five hours in June 2008 pounding the streets with his father, dragging two tractor tyres behind him and spending time in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
to acclimatise himself to the sastrugi. Pollock, O'Donnell and Solheim travelled 770 kilometres over twenty-two days, averaging fourteen hours journey time each day, whilst lugging 90 kilogram
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
sleds behind them. He pulled a 200lb
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
sled for at least twelve hours each day, for a consecutive forty-four days. His blindness slowed his team down and created difficulties such as pitching their tent, which had to be carried out by O'Donnell and Solheim. Temperatures dropped as low as -50C during the expedition, with the team suffering from blister
Blister
A blister is a small pocket of fluid within the upper layers of the skin, typically caused by forceful rubbing , burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled with a clear fluid called serum or plasma...
s, hunger and extreme exhaustion. O'Donnell endured severe frostbite
Frostbite
Frostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...
on one ear and fingers and Solheim lost a filling from his tooth due to the extreme temperatures. Pollock told the Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
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
Dublin Airport, , is operated by the Dublin Airport Authority. Located in Collinstown, in the Fingal part of County Dublin, 18.4 million passengers passed through the airport in 2010, making it the busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland, followed by Cork and Shannon...
, although he was delayed by the extreme weather conditions
February 2009 Great Britain and Ireland snowfall
The snowfall across the British Isles in February 2009 was a prolonged period of snowfall that began on 1 February 2009. Some areas experienced their largest snowfall levels in 18 years. Snow fell over much of Western Europe. The United Kingdom's Met Office and Ireland's Met Éireann issued severe...
which gripped Dublin that week. He is now working on another book about his participation in the race. Pollock's father has also mentioned other challenges his son intends to partake in, including “kite skiing
Kite skiing
Kite skiing is a relatively recent development of skiing where the pull comes from a kite. It can be done on water, snow, land or ice.Kite skiing on snow has little in common with downhill skiing which is very popular in the alps and on mountains around the world...
, whatever that is” although he hopes he will do “something easy like a few marathons instead”.
Television
Pollock is hosting the documentary series Yes I CanYes I Can (television series)
Yes I Can is a 4-part documentary series created for Setanta Sports. by beActive Media, with support from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. It features four people overcoming various disabilities and attempting an extreme sport...
which airs in November 2011 on Setanta Sports
Setanta Sports
Setanta Sports is an international sports broadcaster based in Dublin, Ireland. Setanta Sports was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events...
.
External links
- Official site
- South Pole blog
- Appearance on Tubridy TonightTubridy TonightTubridy Tonight is an Irish chat show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired for five series on RTÉ One between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews , audience participation and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...
- Yes I Can