Mark Pollock

“I am blind.”

Pollock philosophises with the Irish Independent^[1]

Medal record
Commonwealth Games
Competitor for  Northern Ireland
Bronze	2002 Manchester	Rowing
Silver	2002 Manchester	Rowing

Mark Pollock (born 1976) is an adventurer, athlete, rower, kayaker, author and international motivational speaker from Northern Ireland ^[2][3] 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^[4] to his destination. Pollock admitted his disability had slowed him down but they finished fifth overall from six teams.^[1] He participated against nine other teams, including that of BBC personality Ben Fogle and the Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell, a friend of Pollock.^[2] An avid rower Pollock has won bronze and silver medals 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.^[5]

Early life and background

Pollock was born to Barbara and Johnny^[4] in Holywood, County Down. He had been having problems with both retinas 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.^[2] The college later awarded him an honourary degree following confirmation of his blindness.^[2]

Blindness

“I just wanted to be independent again. I started to get the tools that might help me: my computer; my speaking clock; my watch; Larry, my guide dog.”

Pollock on his search for independence.^[2]

Operation

Pollock has been fully blind since the age of twenty-two in 1998 when his retinas became detached partially due to the injury he had previously sustained.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[2] 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.^[2] 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.

Coping

“They didn't know how to cope with a blind person, and I couldn't tell them how it would work, because I had never worked as a blind person. It was a Catch-22.”

Pollock on his search for employment.^[2]

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.^[2] Eventually the father of one of his college friends assigned him to organising corporate entertainment.^[2] He returned to rowing and won bronze and silver medals for Northern Ireland in the 2002 Commonwealth Games.^[2] 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.^[2] On 10 April 2004, he competed in the North Pole Arctic Marathon on the sixth anniversary of his blindness.^[2] The tenth anniversary coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement which brought constant reminders of his condition.^[2]

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.^[1]

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 Sea, establishing his own business and becoming an international public speaker.^[6] It can only be bought online from his website.^[6]

South Pole trek

The trek cost Pollock around €250,000.^[2] 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.^[2] 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.^[2] 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 blisters, hunger and extreme exhaustion. O'Donnell endured severe frostbite on one ear and fingers^[4] 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".^[1] He described how they did not know what to do when they arrived, describing "such a burst of energy" that had engulfed them.^[1]

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.^[4] 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”.^[4]

Television

Pollock is hosting the documentary series Yes I Can which airs in November 2011 on Setanta Sports.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Blind Irishman completes arduous journey to the South Pole". Irish Independent. 2009-01-28. http://www.independent.ie/national-news/blind-irishman-completes-arduous-journey--to-the-south-pole-1616825.html. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r} "Setting his sights high". Irish Independent. 2008-06-27. http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/setting-his-sights-high-1421764.html. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 
3. ^ "Staff should 'live the brand' for companies". Irish Independent. 2006-03-01. http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/property/staff-should-live-the-brand-for-companies-105303.html. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Blind man returns from polar adventure". The Irish Times. 2009-02-04. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0204/1232923385619.html. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 
5. ^ "Tubridy Tonight line-up is revealed". RTÉ. 2009-02-06. http://www.rte.ie/arts/2009/0206/tubridytonight.html. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Don't make excuses - make it happen!". Irish Independent. 2007-03-01. http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/dont-make-excuses--make-it-happen-47463.html. Retrieved 2009-02-06. 

External links

• Official site
• South Pole blog
• Appearance on Tubridy Tonight
• Yes I Can

Persondata
Name	Pollock, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1976
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death