To celebrate five years of partnership with Help for Heroes we’re sharing the stories of servicemen that have overcome adversity to take part in Tough Mudder, with the help of the charity and the funds raised by Mudders.
Mark’s Inspiring Story
Mark Holloway served as an infantry Platoon Sergeant with The Rifles. Whilst on his third tour of Afghanistan December 2011, Mark was very seriously injured by an improvised explosive device (IED). The fragmentations ripped through his right forearm severing the radial artery, causing catastrophic bleeding and also damaging the tendons and nerves supplying control and movement to his hand and wrist.
He was flown to Camp Bastion by American Special Forces Rescue to have lifesaving surgery, before being flown back to the UK, to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham (QEHB). From QEHB Mark was sent home to recover and after about three months went to the Defence Rehabilitation and Medical Centre, Headley Court for intense physio and rehab.
Mark said: “I met a lot of soldiers who had been more seriously injured, guys that had lost both legs – so inspirational and focused on walking with their prosthetic legs, they accepted the adversity and got on with it.
Taking on World’s Toughest Mudder
Mark has completed a number of Tough Mudder events since his injury and in November 2016 completed his fourth World’s Toughest Mudder, an extreme 5-mile obstacle course challenge in the Las Vegas desert where elite athletes aim to complete as many laps as they can in the 24 hours. Mark did incredibly well, finishing as the top UK male and coming 12th out of 1,200 competitors.
“It was genuinely the hardest physical event I’ve ever experienced but I was able to complete 17 laps of the supercharged World’s Toughest Mudder course and covered a total of 85 miles. I conquered some insane and fun obstacles 264 times and finished 12th in the world.”
“I put myself through it to raise money for Help for Heroes. They provided me with everything I needed to get me through my recovery and back to work. If I had not been injured I would never have been exposed to how great this charity is.”
Find out how your Mudder journey can support Help for Heroes.