Mark Ormrod MBE, Royal Marine and Motivational Speaker
“Just try for a day. Keep your legs, but just take your dominant arm and put it behind your back… and look at the challenges that come just from that… and then try and multiply that by 10.”Before the incident, “I was 6’2, 16 stone, at the peak of my physical fitness, everything that in my mind, I thought an alpha male should be and I was living the dream… now, all of a sudden, boom! …without my prosthetic legs on, I'm four foot two.”At 16, having decided that he wanted to “make something of myself”, Mark joined the Royal Marines, he wanted to “stop bad people and help good people.” It was at age 24 during a tour of Afghanistan, on his way back to camp on Christmas Eve that Mark stood on an improvised explosive device (IED) and lost both of his legs above the knee and his dominant right arm above the elbow, so as Mark says, “Merry Christmas.”Mark left the Royal Marines 20 years ago and has worked hard to ‘turn personal tragedy into an ongoing story of personal success.’“I was the first triple amputee from the UK… initially I thought that was a disadvantage, but I found a way to use that as a bit of motivation because there's something quite exciting about being the first to do anything… I kind of looked at it as an opportunity for personal growth.” Eventually Mark found a mentor in the USA, Cameron Clapp, who became a triple amputee aged 15 following a train accident, “Having that time and that experience with Cameron and his team literally changed my life…. I took six years of their successes and failures when I went over there and condensed it down into three weeks to achieve similar results to what Cameron had and it was amazing… It gave me my life back.”Mark’s book, ‘Man Down’ followed as well as a 5km run and now another book and film are in the pipeline, “I honestly think that human beings are their happiest and their best when they're growing… when they've got a challenge… and they're working towards it and seeing progress… this is a bit of an extreme way to experience personal growth, but these are the cards I was dealt, so you just roll with them.”Next on Mark’s agenda, is a 1km open-sea swim with one limb and no swimming aids, “My purpose now is to live the very best life that I can live… First of all, to show everybody that was involved in saving my life, that they did the right thing… and second, to just to try and motivate and inspire as many other people… as I can and show them you don't need to have all your digits and both arms and both legs to live a full life.”Keep your eyes on Mark’s social media, the sea swim is on the 21st of May and he’s going for the World Record. Will he succeed? We reckon if anyone will, Mark will.Head to Mark's sea swim If you’re a member of the Armed Forces community and need support with your mental health, Op Courage can help. Or you could phone the Combat Stress Helpline on: 0800 138 1619Company of Makers exists to support veterans and their families who are struggling on civvy street no matter how long ago they left the armed forces.We do this by running a programme of Podcasts | Talks | Workshops.Company of Makers are trying to reach, and better understand, all members of the armed forces community who are also gamers. We’re especially interested in those that have served in conflicts over the last 30 years.To find out more contact us.