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INLSA<\/p>\n
MARK Charlesworth, who was left paralysed after a car accident seven years ago, against the odds, now prepares for his next challenge, climbing the over 550 steps on the arch at theMoses Mabhida stadium.Picture: Colleen Dardagan<\/p>\n
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Mark Charlesworth doesn\u2019t stop talking, but he\u2019s worth listening to. <\/p>\n
He survived a horrendous car crash, was told he wouldn\u2019t walk again, but didn\u2019t listen. Against the odds, he is now busy with an intensive training schedule before climbing the 550 steps on the arch of Durban\u2019s Moses Mabhida Stadium for charity on May 13. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m doing this because people said I couldn\u2019t. I love a challenge and I want to raise money for, among others, the volunteer paramedics who saved my life on September 11, 2004. That\u2019s a day I will never forget.\u201d <\/p>\n
Charlesworth, who raced Porsches as a hobby, was driving his BMW M3 on Acutts Drive outside Hillcrest at noon. It is believed the car hit a wet spot and spun twice before rolling \u201cnose over tail\u201d and coming to rest on its roof. <\/p>\n
Charlesworth\u2019s neck was broken in two places and he was paralysed from his chest down, although he had movement in his arms. <\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to the radiologist, my spinal cord looked as though it had been put through a blender,\u201d he said, pointing out that he was neither drunk nor \u201cmonkeying around\u201d at the time of the accident. <\/p>\n
Today, the import\/export broker, who cannot stand unaided and gets around using a walker, has managed to climb more than 700 steps in two and a half hours while training. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have set myself five hours to walk up the stadium arch, but if I manage it in a shorter time I will walk up twice. I love an extreme challenge,\u201d said Charlesworth, who now drives a modified car. <\/p>\n
Shannon Charles, a volunteer paramedic who was the first on the accident scene, said Charlesworth\u2019s recovery was nothing short of a miracle, considering the extent of his injuries. \u201cI have never met someone with such a strong mind,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Charles, who belongs to The Volunteer Emergency Medical Assistants, said running costs were a big problem. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for 13 years. Of course the busier we are, the higher the costs. The fact that Charlesworth has chosen to do this for us is humbling.\u201d <\/p>\n
Angela Dragt, a biokineticist who has worked with Charlesworth since his accident and is helping him to train for his stadium climb, said his attitude made the difference. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have never seen him down. He counts himself lucky and always says there is someone worse off than he is. His attitude is incredibly positive.\u201d <\/p>\n
For further information on Charlesworth\u2019s climb, e-mail mark@internationaltrade .co.za or follow his progress on twitter, @OnestepbeyondSA. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INLSA MARK Charlesworth, who was left paralysed after a car accident seven years ago, against the odds, now prepares for his next challenge, climbing the over 550 steps on the arch at theMoses Mabhida stadium.Picture: Colleen Dardagan Mark Charlesworth doesn\u2019t stop talking, but he\u2019s worth listening to. He survived a horrendous car crash, was told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-7858","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}