A paralysed war veteran is being billed as the ‘Cumbrian Captain Tom’, as he walks almost 1000 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise funds for bereaved military children’s charity, Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
In 2010, while serving in Afghanistan, Mark Harding was shot through the neck. His C5 and C6 spinal segments were completely shattered, resulting in him becoming paralysed from the neck down. Despite being told multiple times that he would never walk again, Mark slowly started to regain some movement and now he’s taken on a mammoth challenge and walking the length of the UK!
Mark began his Big Miles For Little Smiles Challenge on 13thMay to raise funds for Scotty’s Little Soldiers, a charity that supports hundreds of children and young people who have experienced the death of a parent who served in the British Armed Forces. He’s already been walking for over 40 days.
Mark has already walked the entire length of Scotland, passed his hometown of Carlisle, then travelled through Penrith, Lancaster, Preston, Warrington, Shrewsbury and lots of towns and villages in-between. He’s due to reach Hereford on Tuesday 25th July and will be stopping by at HR4K, a veteran owned coffee shop, at around 2pm, to enjoy some much-needed refreshments. If you’d like to stop by and give Mark some support, he’d love to see you.
Before starting the challenge, Mark said: “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’ll be doing a lot of the walk on crutches with everything I need for the journey in a rucksack. It’s going to be a long one – between three or four months in total.”
His journey hasn’t come without challenges. When Mark was in Kingstown, he was hit by a van and took a blow to his legs. Luckily, he was close to his hometown of Carlisle and after a trip to A&E and some forced bed rest, Mark carried on his journey.
Mark has received a huge amount of support from the British Public, including a video message from Chris Oliver, best known from Channel 4 TV series SAS Who Dares Wins.
Mark started his challenge shortly after the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, which he is commemorating by carrying a flag of The King for the duration of the challenge.
“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.
“I don’t really think about what I’ve done – I’m always focussed 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.”
Since 2012, Mark has been taking on extreme fundraising challenges for military charities that mean a lot to him, and in 2021 was named ITV’s Pride of Britain Regional Fundraiser of the Year. He is also a finalist for the Soldiering On 2023 Inspiration Award.
Scotty’s Little Soldiers is a tri-service charity dedicated to supporting children and young people (0 to 25 years) who have experienced the death of a parent who served in the British Armed Forces.
Inspired by the experience of Army widow Nikki Scott, following the death of her husband Corporal Lee Scott in Afghanistan in 2009, the charity, which was set up in 2010, provides support and guidance to hundreds of bereaved military children and young people throughout their childhood.
Scotty’s currently has over 600 members and services offered include access to child bereavement support, guidance to parents and carers, personal education and learning assistance (including grants), and fun activities such as holiday respite breaks and group events. These are all designed to remind the children and young people supported by Scotty’s that they are not alone.
Scotty’s Little Soldiers Founder, Nikki Scott, said of Mark’s challenge: “What Mark is doing is absolutely incredible. We are so honoured that he has chosen to support Scotty’s with this huge challenge. We are all behind Mark and love hearing how he is doing. We are also very grateful to everyone who is supporting Mark along the way.”
TO MAKE A DONATION TO MARK’S ‘BIG MILES FOR LITTLE SMILES’ FUNDRAISER, PLEASE USE THE LINK BELOW: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bigmilesforlittlesmiles
