Blind adventurer survives 25ft sleepwalk fall from window

WELL-KNOWN Irish adventurer, motivational speaker and author Mark Pollock, who became the first blind man to reach the South Pole on foot, is in a serious but stable condition after falling from an upper floor window while sleepwalking.

Belfast-born Mr Pollock (34) is in intensive care in the Royal Berkshire Hospital in England, having sustained multiple broken bones and internal injuries in the fall, which happened last Friday.

Mr Pollock fell 25ft from a bedroom window in a house in which he was staying after attending the Henley Royal Regatta as a spectator.

Mr Pollock, who lost his sight at the age of 22, was recovering after having recently completed the Round Ireland Yacht Race at the time of the accident. He became the first blind man to co-skipper a boat in the event.

His fiancee Simone George credited his friends’ quick reaction with saving his life.

They came to his aid immediately after his fall from the upper-floor window.

“We want to say thank you to his friends for saving his life. We cannot express what we feel for them. Mark is focusing on getting better,” she said.

“He would like to thank everyone for their love and their prayers and their thoughts,” Ms George added.

Mr Pollock has taken part in a series of extreme challenges since going blind, when his retina detached in 1998.

These include completing six marathons in one week in the Gobi Desert as part of The Race of No Return, and participation in a number of other extreme running events on Everest and at the North Pole.

Last year, he took part in the Amundsen Omega 3 race, becoming the first blind man to reach the South Pole on foot.

Mr Pollock and fellow competitors, Dubliner Simon O’Donnell and Norwegian Inge Solheim, came fifth overall of six teams in the race.

He has also won silver and bronze medals in rowing at the Commonwealth Games in 2002.

In addition to being a professional adventure athlete, Mr Pollock also works as a motivational speaker and has co-authored the book Making it Happenwith documentary film maker Ross Whitaker, which chronicles how he overcame the odds to rebuild his life after going blind.

At the time he lost his sight, Mr Pollock was an international rower who was completing his studies at Trinity College Dublin after which he hoped to pursue a career in investment banking.