A soldier who was told he would never walk again after being shot in the neck by a Taliban sniper is on a mission to inspire walkers to sign up for the Cateran Yomp.
Mark Harding, 47, was hit during a tour of Afghanistan with the British Army in 2010. The shot left him paralysed from the neck down.
Defying all expectations, he spent almost three years learning to walk again. Last year, he hiked on crutches from John o’ Groats to Land’s End.
Mark’s focus over the next few months is the Cateran Yomp.
This is the legendary long-distance charity hiking event, which runs this year on June 8 and 9 in the foothills of the Cairngorms.
He says: “The Yomp is a massive challenge but sure to be an unforgettable challenge. It’s about digging in and getting through.
“I urge anyone considering the Yomp to go for it.”
What is the Cateran Yomp?
Kicking off in the berry-picking heartland of Blairgowrie, it takes walkers on a gruelling 54-mile circular route through Kirkmichael, the Spittal of Glenshee and Kirkton of Glenisla.
The rugged, hilly terrain adds to the adventure. The challenge must be completed within 24 hours.
It might just take every bit of grit you possess.
However, if the 54-mile gold route seems too daunting, there are 36 (silver) and 22 (bronze) mile options.
Those doing the ‘big routes’, however, should go armed with head torches, as they’ll be walking through the night.
Afghanistan veteran defied expectations to walk again
An ambassador for the 2024 event, Cumbria-based Mark hopes to walk some of the trail.
He wants to inspire yompers to push on through any pain or discomfort – sensations he understands only too well
Mark was in his 16th year of service when he was deployed on operations to the Nadi-Ali district of Afghanistan, a notorious trouble spot for heavy sniper fire.
He was leading a four-man patrol to investigate an improvised explosive device when his platoon came under attack.
“Once I came to, I had ringing in my ears,” he recalls.
“I checked my legs were still attached, and that’s when I saw my colleague, Corporal Chris McInerney, had been shot through his thigh.
“Bill, this Fijian guy who’s a mate, said: ‘Mark, I think you’ve been shot’.
“I looked down and saw that the left-hand side of my body armour was all dark red, completely covered in blood.
“It hurt everywhere. I just wanted the pain to stop. Then I blacked out.”
The bullet had struck Mark in the neck, severely injuring his spinal cord and leaving him paralysed from the neck down.
Flown back to the UK in an induced coma, Mark was admitted to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.
It took weeks to stabilise the extreme pain he was in, and then he was moved to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough for seven months.
How did it feel to be told he would never walk again?
It was there that consultants told him he would never walk again.
“I was in a dark place,” he reflects. “For a soldier, to be told I’d never walk again, was pretty demeaning.
“I’d been fighting for my country, and here I was, a few weeks on, paralysed and unable to move.
“Then I heard friends had been killed. I didn’t want to be on the planet at that point.”
But there came a point where he decided he wanted to live life. He wanted to prove the doctors wrong.
Mark gradually began to regain incremental amounts of feeling and movement. That was enough to spur him to undertake extensive and gruelling rehabilitation.
He endured eight hours of physio and physical training a day.
Mark Harding has now completed incredible endurance challenges
Through his unwavering perseverance, the Lance Corporal progressed from a wheelchair to crutches, and eventually walking with the aid of a walking stick.
He’s since gone on to complete a series of incredible endurance challenges for charity.
This includes scaling Skiddaw, one of England’s highest mountains, to walking from John o’ Groats to Land’s End on crutches.
“I listened to music and started visualising walking up Skiddaw,” he recalls.
“The physio was painful and gruelling but I kept at it, and eventually started walking. I was so determined.
“People usually take doctors’ words as gospel. But if someone says I can’t do something, I’ll drag myself over hot coals to prove them wrong.”
Home gym kickstarted veteran’s recovery
Ultimately, Mark’s mission is to show people with injuries from war zones that they can still do things – and do them “bloody well”.
And he wants to give something back to the charity that helped him on his long road to recovery – the Army Benevolent Fund.
“When I was injured and lying in hospital for seven months, paralysed from the neck down, the Army Benevolent Fund stepped up and awarded a grant to convert my house, creating a downstairs bedroom, widening doors, and moving my garage, which is now a gym,” says Mark.
“This was when my recovery, both physical and mental, really started. I could see a future again.”
The charity also provided grants for training equipment to develop Mark’s love of kayaking.
He went on to be selected for the GB Sprint Kayaking squad.
Mark Harding honoured to be Cateran Yomp ambassador
Mark sees his role as ambassador for the 2024 Cateran Yomp as a “huge honour” and a “big responsibility”.
He says: “Every step you take will raise more money, not just for veterans, but their families, too.
“People don’t realise that the partners, husbands, and wives are the backbone of these soldiers, so they can go and do their job.”
Mark says he can’t wait to meet yompers as they take on the biggest, toughest event of its kind.
“The Yomp takes courage, discipline, integrity and teamwork,” he adds.
“I’m hoping to walk some of the stunning route, and chat to yompers as they battle on through. I’m really looking forward to the experience.”
Meet the Dundee family going for gold at the Cateran Yomp
Dundee couple Karen and Andy McDermott are gearing up to tackle the gold 54-mile Yomp route with their two daughters and partners.
Karen, 47, and Andy, 48, know what they’re letting themselves in for, having completed the 36-mile silver alternative in 2022 with a group of Karen’s colleagues.
The couple raised £500 for charity, motivated by Karen’s grandfather, Albert Maxfield, who was a prisoner of war in the Second World War.
Prior to that, Karen, a self-employed sports therapist, worked at the 2021 event, giving massages to weary yompers as they stopped for breaks at checkpoints.
“The Yomp is undoubtedly the toughest challenge we’ve ever taken on, and we’ve taken part in many challenges!” says Karen.
“Some people think it’s just a long walk, but it’s way more than that.
“You’re walking a considerable distance over a long day and night, including sections when you’re exhausted and struggling along in the dark.
“However, despite all that, it’s incredibly well organised and so rewarding.
“The atmosphere is just amazing; there’s so much support and encouragement.”
- For more information see the Facebook page of the Cateran Yomp. Sign up before February 29 to benefit from an “early bird” discount.
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