22 - Mark Ormrod - Cheating death in Afghanistan and how a positive mindset is the only way forward.

Mark Ormand is a former Royal Marine Commando.  On September 7th 2007 he was deployed to Afghanistan. About half way through the tour on a routine foot patrol on Christmas Eve, he stood on and detonated an improvised explosive device which was to change his life forever.  Mark became the first British triple amputee of the conflict.

​Now as a sought after public speaker, Mark is always keen to highlight just how in awe he is of the professionalism his fellow comrades and the medics which worked on him were. As you can imagine, if you saw a friend in such a terrible situation your first reaction would be to rush in and help, however in a war zone you could detonate additional devices or put others in danger. Luckily for Mark the training kicked in and as one guy was calling for back up, another was marking a safe route for the medic while another set up a defense position should any further attacks occur, Mark was totally in awe of how professional they were, one guy in the team literally having been deployed only three months after his initial training. 
 
However, things took a turn for the worse while Mark was in the back of the helicopter being lifted to safety. When being checked over he had no pulse, his veins had collapsed due to blood loss and he failed to steam up his oxygen mask. Presumed dead, the medics had to make the tough decision to put him to one side and work on another soldier with shrapnel in his back instead. As luck would have it, while retrieving medical equipment, one of the medics walked past Mark and noticed his eye fluttering indicating that he was indeed still alive. They quickly performed a ground breaking procedure which had literally only been cleared three days prior by the Army top brass and had only ever been practiced in sterile training exercises, now it was being performed in the back of a moving Chinook helicopter with dust and dirt in the air.
 
The medics drilled into Marks hip front and back, close to vital organs and inserted an intravenous line. Within about three minutes Mark was back and answering questions coherently. The respect Mark has for these guys is so visible as he talks about their professionalism under such pressure with adrenaline pumping and less than ideal circumstances to work in.
 
All of this happened over ten years ago now.  On the 10th anniversary, Mark was sitting in his office planning out his goals for the next year when he decided that the missing element was sport.
 
Before the accident Mark had boxed for the Royal Marines and also competed in Muay Thai and full contact kickboxing. As all of these sports required you to have your limbs he wasn’t really interested in adapted sports to begin with and concentrated his efforts on other areas of his life. For the ten year anniversary though he felt it was time to bring some sport back into his life and inspired by friends who had competed in the Invictus games, seeing how the event had really taken their rehab and recovery to another level, he decided to give it a go.
 
He was blown away at the first training session, thinking that he could compete with brute force and ignorance he soon realised that there was a lot more to it than he first thought. Humbled once he’d absorbed the amount of strategy, technique and quantity of training involved Mark realise that he needed to adapt to the mindset of an athlete. Then ensued ten months of ‘thrashing himself’ to use Marks words, listening to his coaches, trailing the techniques and researching and developing his strategy for the games.
 
Participants of the invictus games all have different goals. For some it is the environment, getting themselves out there amongst all the noise and crowds which would usually be horrific for them, others are keen to hit or exceed personal bests, for Mark it was all about the medals.  And medals he got, receiving two for rowing and two for swimming along with the coveted exceptional performance medal of the games.
 
He is now already in training for the 2018 games in Australia, the day of our interview Mark had been up at 5am working out in preparation for his next challenges, swimming, and rowing again but also shot-put and discus this time too. All this training has to take place around being a father to his three children and his full time job working for the Royal Marines Charity as well as speaking engagements.
 
Hopefully by October this year, to co-inside with the Sydney Invictus Games 2018, Mark and his friend Matt Elliot will be releasing a documentary about his life, showing what it is like to be a triple amputee juggling work, training, and family life.
 
Watch the full interview to hear this incredible story, Mark’s BeGlad message at the end and why he thinks his life is brilliant.
 
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The BeGlad Movement is aiming to collect 100 stories of good coming out of bad and reasons to be glad by the end of 2018 to help support each other with our experiences and to raise money for the Samaritans and Action for Happiness. If you would like to donate it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you!
 
https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/beglad