Cambridge man links up with adventurer James Ketchell on fundraising walk to Paris
A Cambridge man who suffers from two neurological disorders is to walk to his company’s office in Paris alongside one of the country’s top adventurer.
Mark Woods-Nunn plans to walk from Cambridge Assessment’s Triangle building to the Parisian office along with James Ketchell – a contemporary of Bear Grylls.
James, known as Captain Ketch, is the only person to have completed the ultimate triathlon of rowing across the Atlantic, climbing Mount Everest and cycling 18,000 miles around the world.
After meeting at a friend’s wedding, the pair have kept in touch and Capt Ketch jumped at the invitation to join Mark on his walk.
Mark said: “I was diagnosed with epilepsy some years ago and most recently have been diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder (FND) too which causes non-epileptic absence seizures, largely on a
daily basis.
“While I manage the triggers, this condition has had a major impact on my life and career.
“The aim is to raise money to be split equally between the Epilepsy Society and FNDAction, who support people with these conditions.
“Unable to drive or cycle, walking affords me some measure of independence. So on March 16 I simply plan to walk approximately 280 miles from the Triangle building in the city to the Cambridge Assessment office in Paris.
“I will be accompanied by serial adventurer Mr Ketchell, who also became the first person to have circumnavigated the Earth in an open-cockpit gyrocopter on September 22, 2019.
“James is an action man and I am certainly not in his league! However, all challenges are relative, I have to be careful on stresses to my body as fatigue can intensify the seizures.
“So a long trek like this is a very big deal for me. James will be an encouragement to help me
keep going.”
After getting his epilepsy under control, Mark was hit with another health issue which saw him suffer from between 50 and 80 attacks a day.
He added: “After working in London I decided to get a job back in Cambridge and, just as I did, these things started to increase.
“At one point I was having 50-80 incidents a day.
“First they thought it was the epilepsy kicking off, but the seizures were much more shorter but more frequent. They then realised it was not epilepsy. It comes under the banner of functional neurological disorder and that is an umbrella term. Under that, some people will have symptoms like Parkinson’s, and some people can’t walk.
“I count myself blessed because I know people have it far worse than me.
“I’ve given up alcohol, caffeine and chocolate. I used to survive on four hours sleep a night or less sometimes, I had to change that as well. A lot of it is how you manage your lifestyle.”
Mark’s employer, Cambridge Assessment, has been a real help and he has to wear green glasses while working on a screen.
The walk will give Mark the chance to take back control of a disorder he is determined to beat.
He added: “The walk is a challenge. I am not going to roll over. I will not be dictated to by this thing. You have to pick your battles. We start on March 16 and walk to Whittlesford and talk at the primary school. We are due to arrive in France on April 2 and we are talking to a number of other schools on the way. It will take two-and-half weeks before we finish at our office in Paris.”
To donate to Mark's cause, visit his fundraising site.
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