Meet the Desborough dad challenging his mates to tackle 'cardiac' hill in wheelchairs to highlight mobility issues

With those mega climbs to his name, the father-of-three has now challenged his pals to join him in a feat of their own – the tricky Desborough to Rothwell ‘cardiac hill’ in wheelchairs.

On Sunday, (January 25), Mark will lead members of his Dads’ Doddle group in the steep descent and ascent of the Ise Valley incline next to the old A6.

Using a variety of wheelchairs provided by mobility experts Rehasense, a group will attempt the trip from leaving at 10.30am from Costa Coffee in Desborough, to the Red Lion pub in Rothwell – pushing all the way.

Mark said: “I recently joined a group called Dads’ Doddle which has been an amazing support network for many dads across the county. I had a crazy idea where I would ask – coerce – many of them in to doing a short trek in a wheelchair so they can see how difficult and different it is for those with mobility issues.

“It's quite a trek for people in general but doing it in wheelchairs is next level, especially going up ‘cardiac hill’ into Rothwell.”

The 39-year-old works as an regional outreach team leader for spinal injury charity Back Up, supporting patients and staff at hospitals in the East of England region.

He became a wheelchair user after a mountain bike accident in France when he became paralyzed from the waist down.

Mark said: “Before my accident, my hobbies were being a good father and mountain biking. I was always the ‘rad dad’ on the school run.

“Then in the summer of 2023, I had my accident while mountain biking in Morzine, France. I don’t remember anything about it, except taking a photo at the top of the mountain. I woke up in intensive care in Geneva, Switzerland.

“I needed realignment surgery on my back, a cage put in around my T12 vertebrae, a collarbone rebuild and a small piece of my rib removed. I spent almost three weeks in Switzerland before returning to England where I spend three weeks in Kettering General Hospital, five months in Corby Hospital before going to Stoke Mandeville spinal unit.

“Then in March 2024 I got discharged – and that’s when the real ‘fun’ started It was tough. But my wife Nicola received mentoring support from Back Up.”

Being a wheelchair user has been tricky and Mark hopes the Dads’ Doddle event will highlight issues he faces everyday when using paths and roads.

He said: “We will have a mixture of (wheel) chairs from the heavier ones you get when a patient in hospital, to the more active lightweight ones that I use. They will get a feeling of how the service people receive whilst in hospital can sometimes hinder mobility. The heavier and bigger a chair is, the harder it is to be independent and mobile.

"I have done the hill before a few times but I'm normally found in the woods using the various power add-ons that are available to help me get out more.

"There really is a mental amount of equipment to promote independence but that comes at a cost. Some of this equipment will also be joining us on the event as well so people can see how truly amazing it is.”

“Being a wheelchair user is not too bad if you’re active and looking after yourself both physically and mentally.

"I am a minority in my town of Desborough. Everywhere I go it's always just me with mobility issues. The cobblestones in Rothwell highlight how difficult it is as a wheelchair user just to get across the road. Lightweight chairs have small wheels at the front that means every stick and stone can stop your chair in an instant and throw you out.

"In bigger towns and in more modern areas "accessibility" is built into the infrastructure to some extent but there is a difference between accessible and able to access. Not everyone is capable to push up inclines, for many reasons.”

And Mark is working on his strategy to negotiate the steep hills and how to see his friends safely to the Red Lion.

He added: “Both uphill and downhill are equally dangerous. Going up you have a risk of fatigue and then not being able to stop yourself rolling back down the hill. Speed is fun but also means you need to slow down and control your speed. Using the push rims on the wheels to break on steep hills means the warm up very quickly and can easily burn your hands.

"It sounds counter intuitive but to safely traverse down a hill it is safer to do a wheelie and come down on just the big rear back wheels. It means you can control speed easier.

"I do consider myself a lucky man that I am very able in my chair, but even the simplest things like a path cause so many people in chairs issues – and I'm hoping the dads will see this.”