Good as Gold's
Good as Gold's
22 and not Bullet Proof: Rebuilding after major life event with Motivational Speaker and Adaptive Athlete Mark Daniels
Professional adaptive athlete of all kinds, extreme sports enthusiast and motivational speaker, Mark Daniels joins us on Good as Gold's as he talks to us about rebuilding after the major life event which resulted in an above-knee amputation.
Mark is an absolute legend and all-round awesome guy. Here's a snapshot of what we were lucky enough to chat with him about in his rebuild journey:
TW: Suicide, PTSD
- What does it mean to overcome 14 surgeries, 11 broken ribs, a ruptured kidney, a broken right femur in 4 places, a ruptured femoral artery, a broken hand and more?
- Redefining what it means to be disabled & changing the mentality
- Never taking no for an answer
- Advice from mentor Paul DeGelder & a pivotal moment
- The importance of resilience and mindset
- Invictus Games
- Kayaking at the National Championships
- Paralympics
- Training as a coping mechanism
You can follow Mark's inspirational journey here on socials: @markdanielsmotivation
Want to get in touch? Reach out to the Gold's Gym Australia team on socials @goldsgymau or via email: feedback@goldsgym.com.au
00:01:25:08 - 00:01:27:20
Callum
All righty. Welcome in, Mark. How's it going?
00:01:29:02 - 00:01:30:11
Mark Daniels
Good. Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me.
00:01:31:01 - 00:01:37:18
Callum
So, Mark, can you quickly explain who you are? Give us a little bit about yourself.
00:01:37:19 - 00:01:39:00
Emily
Give us a little rundown.
00:01:39:03 - 00:01:58:22
Mark Daniels
Just how do you sum up seven years and now let's do this. All right. So I am Mark Daniels. I am an above knee amputee. 29 years old from Perth. I'm an Australian partner athlete and I am adaptive athlete of all different kinds. There are a lot of crazy stuff with my leg. And yeah, it's a pretty long journey.
00:01:59:07 - 00:02:15:20
Callum
Man, I've seen some videos on the on the Gram of You deadlifting one leg like box jumping, incredible stuff. Before we go into that side of things and all the stuff that you're up to at the moment. Can you dove a little deeper into how you got to where you are today?
00:02:17:01 - 00:02:36:18
Mark Daniels
Yeah, so it all started basically. I just got back from a four and a half month deployment in the Navy I spent eight years in the Navy as a Marine technician. We returned back to Australia from doing a Northeast Asian deployment, and three days later we were getting on leave for a month. So I was pretty looking forward to just traveling and doing the normal things we get after being away for so long.
00:02:37:02 - 00:03:03:02
Mark Daniels
Yeah, and writing my motorbike home from a mate's place and a distracted driver's turn across my leg and actually T-boned me I woke up not knowing what the hell's happened, was conscious or it all, and it was pretty crazy to go through most to injuries or a broken neck 11 broken ribs, a punctured lung, ruptured kidney. My heart was growing against my rib cage, broken right femur in four places, ruptured my femoral artery and the right side broken right hand.
00:03:03:11 - 00:03:39:24
Mark Daniels
My foot and tip on the right side were just completely destroyed. I went through 65 units of blood, thawed three times and had to be fully reassessed and I was in a coma for ten days. So going through that at 22 years of age and I just changed my life, literally let me knew that I'm not 22 and bulletproof and when it's something so out of your control and then you wake up and this is your life, it's such a big shock and you okay how it is So that's basically what got me into this journey is going through something like that and that amount of change and yeah, it was pretty unreal.
00:03:40:23 - 00:03:45:15
Callum
Well, is that that list of just it didn't stop.
00:03:46:03 - 00:03:50:13
Mark Daniels
It's oh, it's like a shopping list. Look, I went from a burn to breaking every bone in my body.
00:03:51:05 - 00:03:55:01
Callum
And so then that led to amputation of a limb.
00:03:56:00 - 00:04:12:21
Mark Daniels
Yep. So originally I went below the knee, so I still had my knee joint and I was five centimeters below my knee on the right side. However, after 14 surgeries, I decided, let's get rid of it. It's not working. Yeah, my leg was stuck at about 40 degrees, so it was never going to run. I mean, that's a walk up.
00:04:13:00 - 00:04:29:14
Mark Daniels
Run a bike. This isn't living blood. It's not helping me get rid of it. So that's when I elected to have it chopped off and against medical advice. Everyone was like, You don't want to do this so much harder being an above knee. Yeah, there are right. It is so much harder, but there's no point holding on to something that doesn't work.
00:04:30:15 - 00:04:31:08
Mark Daniels
What yeah.
00:04:31:14 - 00:04:40:11
Emily
That is unbelievable. So can you give us a little insight? Like, so you woke up after being in a coma and where was your mind up.
00:04:42:03 - 00:04:58:23
Mark Daniels
So my dad told me what had happened. He's like my eyes that look like you've lost your leg, you're in the motorbike accident. And I remember bits and pieces, but at the time I was just so messed up on drugs that everything yeah, medical drugs start from being in the car. All the ketamine infusion and everything you get.
00:04:58:23 - 00:05:15:19
Mark Daniels
I just wasn't aware. And a lot of magic was all shit. And then just like, blacked out again, I really struggle with that mental side is that for me, it was such a young, fit, active person in the military. I was such an extreme sports enthusiast. Love the adventure. I don't want to be a person of the disability.
00:05:15:19 - 00:05:33:15
Mark Daniels
I didn't know how to be disabled. I didn't want to be a burden on society and my family. So I made the decision to commit suicide in hospital. I tried to pull out all the breathing tubes and actually end my life because I didn't want to put my family through having to like be with me. Like while I was just this potato on it, didn't know how to do it.
00:05:34:03 - 00:05:52:06
Mark Daniels
Because I guess when you don't have that exposure to disabilities, you don't know what is possible. Yeah, exactly. So for me, I had to split from the Navy. The whole ship was turning up and then having to close the waiting room because it was just the whole ship sails in the water. And personally, I think they came to see the nurses not see me after in Florida.
00:05:53:12 - 00:06:12:02
Mark Daniels
And the boys were a bit limited. So yeah, during the day 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., I was like two surrounded by people and I barely had a full neck brace with the broken neck. And I also had so much support. But then at night and you're alone in a dark room, no windows that's gone. It really starts catching up with you.
00:06:12:14 - 00:06:29:06
Mark Daniels
And as a young, fit, healthy person, I thought mental health was only for people like mental health issues, but only for people that were weak. I just don't know what it was like to go through something like this. That was really gonna a push me and I was really struggling to just be alive. My captain at the time put me in touch with pulled it out.
00:06:29:06 - 00:06:44:09
Mark Daniels
It was a Navy clearance diver. Yes. Yeah. That's lost his arm and leg in that. And he trains at Gold's Over in the States and his content. That's pretty amazing. Yeah. People basically he was on that side because I've made the people are going to tell you what you can and can't do for the rest of your life.
00:06:44:19 - 00:07:04:18
Mark Daniels
That the fuck off you define. Yes. It's don't define you. And that's tattooed across my ribs now. So once I have that chat with Paul, I read his book and then I started going, Okay, what can people with disabilities do to start networking looking through? And I'm the light with the spark in that trying to use a tablet kept dropping it on my face because I couldn't even hold my arms up.
00:07:04:18 - 00:07:21:12
Mark Daniels
Was that messed up with drugs? And what I realized it was all the medication was on that was actually making me so numb and not ready to fight. Yeah, yeah. I got started to get weaned off it. Once I was actually produced all that medication, I was like, Alright, let's do this. That's fine. The only problem is my body was no ready to fight.
00:07:21:23 - 00:07:47:01
Mark Daniels
Yeah, I was so weak, so broke and I lost 30 kilos in hospital. I went from like 100 kilos down to I think under 60. I was like absolute skin bones just because they couldn't get any nutrition, it's me. So that was a big shift. So then they sent me home and that was the kind of big reality check is that when you're in hospital, you wanted a bed, you got nurses to help you, let's shower you like it's easy.
00:07:47:01 - 00:08:07:06
Mark Daniels
You get home by yourself and you're like, Yeah, how do I do this? Like, don't know how to use a wheelchair. I don't know how to use crutches using crutches with two legs quite easy, using crutches with one legs, a whole different system. I couldn't go to the toilet by myself. I can show off. So you went all out of support, but it ended up having to move back in with my parents, which is not ideal.
00:08:07:06 - 00:08:07:23
Mark Daniels
Deal to.
00:08:08:14 - 00:08:17:09
Callum
Yes. And that's I want to kind of touch on on that point there. So that pivotal point, you've just your life has completely changed. You've spent how long were you in hospital for.
00:08:18:17 - 00:08:19:22
Mark Daniels
It was only three weeks or were doing.
00:08:20:12 - 00:08:21:05
Callum
Yeah. So that's really.
00:08:21:19 - 00:08:36:18
Mark Daniels
Well because I was sick or because I was so fit and healthy and like for me, like Royal Perth Hospital in the state trauma unit, it's just concrete. There was no windows. You're in with guys like criminals that I handcuffed to the beds next to you screaming, no.
00:08:37:21 - 00:08:39:17
Emily
Horrible place. Get me, get me out.
00:08:39:17 - 00:08:40:21
Callum
Yeah. So you want someone.
00:08:40:21 - 00:08:54:10
Mark Daniels
To do actions, like, do you want to go home? No, I want to go home. Yes. You can lay here in a bed or you can lay at home the bed. So I thought, all right, let's go home yet Robyn, because I am coming at doing bad dressings and yeah, well, my bandages off, which was so much fun.
00:08:55:13 - 00:09:13:17
Callum
The 22, you've just gotten home. You pepped up on, on medication and you've got people together in your head telling you not to define like no disability can define you. What was the moment then that you decided, Okay, my life is worth living. What was the trajectory to get where you are today?
00:09:15:06 - 00:09:30:24
Mark Daniels
I think the major defining moment I can think about is like I was going through little things like each day, I was like learning how to brush my teeth again, how to like, go to the toilet by myself again. And those little steps. And then there was one day I was trying to feed my protocol. It ideas and I picked up the 15 kilo bag, a dog food.
00:09:31:06 - 00:09:49:14
Mark Daniels
And when I did, I reached all my ribs and I'm just trying to give them some food like biscuits. Tops should be pretty easy because my ribs were so broken, I just ripped all of them. I was in so much pain through the dog food all over the place. I'd just ended up in the bowl and that's when I realized that I wasn't doing okay.
00:09:49:14 - 00:09:59:11
Mark Daniels
I was such a weak what mental person, physical person. There was nothing left me and I end up on the floor like bowling for an hour, like diesel thought it was the best thing ever because he got 15 kills and.
00:10:00:05 - 00:10:00:17
Emily
Literally.
00:10:00:20 - 00:10:16:10
Mark Daniels
He came over to me and like, yeah, he came over to me, lay on me, and like, he's become my unofficial assistant and I just pull my eyes out of my dog for like an hour. And then I was like, All right. In order to be physically strong, need to be mentally strong. So I'm back into the gym and you start training.
00:10:16:16 - 00:10:31:06
Mark Daniels
I had a weight bench down in the shed. I'm around. I used to do about 50 kilos each arm. I can do 50 and I'm being reasonable weight that I can do. So I was like, All right, let's try and do it. So I went back on the bench and I fell off the bench. What I didn't I can't force used to likes to stabilize.
00:10:31:19 - 00:10:50:24
Mark Daniels
Yeah. And I hadn't even considered this back so I went back, just fell on the floor again, threw a tantrum through some weights around. It was like, alright, I'm going to need some help you my brother's party at the time and said look that when you're ready, but let's start training. And this is probably about what we have at two months of the my accent.
00:10:51:09 - 00:11:11:04
Mark Daniels
Yeah. So that ribs is starting to heal some. And so I was like, ah, I'm going to go to the gym. This guy and DeMar is an Army reservist really fit young guy. So we're going to have a chat with him. And I was like, I had this attitude. I have this pissed off at the well, what makes you think you're entitled to train me?
00:11:11:04 - 00:11:12:07
Mark Daniels
What do you know about this?
00:11:12:12 - 00:11:13:22
Emily
Yes, yes.
00:11:13:23 - 00:11:29:06
Mark Daniels
He's like, fuck all, but I don't see anyone else here. Help these. I'm willing to be here. I'm willing to learn. And if you're willing to put the work in, I'm willing to be here every now and then. It kind of considered like a chip on my shoulder kind of disappeared. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like, you know what?
00:11:29:06 - 00:11:45:11
Mark Daniels
This guy's here. He's willing to help so we learn how to do things. I learned how to pistol, like, into my wheelchair with a broomstick. I'll learn how to bend left on one leg on, there were tiny things. The one even use of weights for use in bloody broomsticks. But look at mobility and how to adapt. With one leg, I started going, Okay, then what can I do?
00:11:45:24 - 00:11:59:22
Mark Daniels
And then I started adding all the weight, and people in the gym looked at me like it was absolute fruit. But it was because I was lifting more than on one leg where straight. Everyone looked at me. It was a freak cause and covered head to toe and scars. Yes, I like that. Fitness community became just fuel for me.
00:12:00:09 - 00:12:25:05
Mark Daniels
Yeah, I guess I use that as a bit of coping strategy. Um, I've got a very addictive personality whenever I do. It's addictive. Yeah. Yeah. Painkiller addictions, alcohol addictions. It's been everything. But for me, the gym has always been my addiction. Yeah. And I chase the gold medal feeling is I would get so many accolades and, like, applause for being in the gym with one leg and the crazy stuff I did, and I could be having the worst hit my head day or suicidal.
00:12:25:06 - 00:12:41:23
Mark Daniels
I would go to the gym for 3 hours, and if I train my ass up for those 3 hours, it was the best day in my life. And that's just what kept me going. It's just I had just had to train, so I. I guess I'd push the mental health stuff away by train. Yeah. And it was really tied into one connection of how I got through all the mental health stuff.
00:12:42:12 - 00:12:58:02
Emily
But you need that connection, right? Like. Yeah, it's like, it's just so amazing to hear that there were actually people right next to you being like, Hey, look, we're here to support you. And I love that you actually touched on like, I had this chip on my shoulder. Like, well, the, you know, who the heck are you? How do you know what to do?
00:12:58:04 - 00:13:15:23
Emily
You know? And you had that, and it was like as soon as someone was honest and like, probably, you know, did you feel like other people treated you differently because you either were covered in scars, you had one leg. Did you did you ever find or do you still find that people do treat you quote unquote differently?
00:13:16:23 - 00:13:32:17
Mark Daniels
100%. And it can be depending on what type of mobility aid. So I can get to work 8 hours on my leg, let be an absolute killer to a pizza or whatever, and then come home my leg. So I'm going to jump on my wheelchair and go to the shops and get myself some dinner. And people are, oh, what's the matter, you lazy?
00:13:32:17 - 00:13:45:19
Mark Daniels
Do not use one of those prosthetics. Oh, like people don't understand why the amount of pain. It's not like you just get a prosthetic. You'll do it's rubble or skin off. It's like so they say using a prosthetics, like wearing a set of high heels that are three times so small.
00:13:47:02 - 00:13:48:08
Emily
So it's pretty comfortable.
00:13:49:15 - 00:14:10:19
Mark Daniels
Yeah. So using them, it's just condenses everything and dilated. So, so but being able to actually get around mobility, have your hands compared to being in a wheelchair is a huge difference. And I guess the way people treat you differently. 100%. The friends I had when I lost my leg aren't the same friends I have now. Yes. And I guess that's part of because I've grown up changed.
00:14:10:20 - 00:14:25:01
Mark Daniels
It's it's the same as when you leave school. You don't still have those same friends. You learn, you adapt and the people that you have the similar interest to all the people around you. Yeah. So I guess, yeah, I've really changed as a person in the last ten years. So yeah.
00:14:25:02 - 00:14:44:05
Emily
But I also think with that, with that friendship thing as well, it's like you grow so much when something Life-Changing happens to you, right? And I feel like sometimes when when you start growing and shifting and changing, it's like we can't have the same mates that, you know, you're staying over or over and they're in, in their late and, you know.
00:14:44:23 - 00:15:01:03
Mark Daniels
Yeah, but all the men she's the party with, that's great. But it's not a lot of my fitness goals. So you grow, you change, I don't think as well. Sometimes when you go into those mental health battles you burn bridges and I but there's times where I wasn't the easiest person to be around. I was so stuck in my ways and I guess I am a very stubborn person.
00:15:01:10 - 00:15:16:20
Mark Daniels
So I burnt bridges and those friends probably don't look at me the same. So it works both ways. It's that's why I'm probably not someone that they still want to be around. But now, because I've changed in the way I move. But yeah, just moved through different stages. And I guess you have the people in those stages of your lives.
00:15:16:20 - 00:15:25:13
Mark Daniels
And of course you have a couple of friends that are through every stage of life. Yeah, I guess. Yeah. As we go through, we learn, we grow, we develop, and everyone around me changes.
00:15:26:09 - 00:15:26:22
Emily
Totally.
00:15:26:24 - 00:15:53:02
Callum
I do want to touch on because you were in the Navy for like a large portion of your life. And then obviously your life changed. And I know now you're working in the field. Can you just like tell us like navigate how you went? Did you end up able to go back to the Navy at all, or was it just like hard court discharge or like how did you go from the Navy to now transitioning to your senior yeah.
00:15:53:15 - 00:16:03:10
Mark Daniels
So how it worked, as I got the offer, I was like, if you can be as fit and as strong as any other sailor will let you stay in. And of course, to me, someone puts a challenge in front of me. I'm like, Yeah, let's do it.
00:16:03:10 - 00:16:03:17
Callum
Yes.
00:16:03:22 - 00:16:05:02
Emily
Like this jump.
00:16:05:24 - 00:16:07:03
Callum
It's test for the Navy.
00:16:07:04 - 00:16:23:21
Mark Daniels
Yes. It's a little bit like a pass the fitness test on one leg. But I could absolutely smashed and then like for me trying to be a Marine technician. So I was a basically a mechanic in the Navy. Yeah, I'm down in the engine room. He's wearing a neoprene liner on your leg and oil sliding below the place.
00:16:23:21 - 00:16:47:07
Mark Daniels
It wasn't a safe place to be to be on your leg, carrying heavyweights up and down a lot of base, practically. It just wasn't going to happen. So I actually stayed in the night five yards after, but I started training at about to be a physical fitness instructor in the Navy. So PTI. So it's like the Navy is I was able to do all every component parts of the run component when it came to the run component.
00:16:47:08 - 00:17:17:16
Mark Daniels
It's, I think the 21 minute for the five K and I was able to only do it in the 23 minutes so I couldn't make the house for like still had pretty quick time on one leg, but maybe is time yeah, the navy is stuck in their ways and that is what I found is that it didn't matter how much I guess I tried on what I put into it like I was making the females on one leg and I was looking to make the female time but yeah, but you're a male, but I'm different to males.
00:17:17:17 - 00:17:43:03
Mark Daniels
I've got one leg. Yeah. In the same stuff. Putting in twice as much effort. And then I kind of realized that it was completely training, going to a workplace every day. And look, the Navy were amazing. They supported me for five years. Wow. I don't want to discredit anything they did for me. I was struggling with my mental health, my PTSD, and I wasn't coping, but I wasn't the Navy's not a place you can talk about it if you start bringing up that you have issues, your bubble wrapped.
00:17:43:23 - 00:18:01:01
Mark Daniels
I listen to Mark Wales podcast the exact same. Yeah. If you bring up that, you've got issues you'll put in bubble wrap and they're trying to say protect you. They're trying to do the right thing, but you can't function, you can't do your job. You're then taken out of the active role and put into a safe place while you deal with it exactly the same time.
00:18:01:05 - 00:18:19:24
Mark Daniels
Being in that same place isn't healthy because you just cut off from where you manage, you cut off from work and it's just, yeah, you sit there like I guess like festering away. And for me, I just ended up like really unhappy, really struggling with who I was, my identity. And yeah, that was when I was like, okay, it's probably time I'll take my medical discharge.
00:18:19:24 - 00:18:24:05
Mark Daniels
My, my PTSD is getting really bad and let me just get out and deal with my mental health issues.
00:18:24:18 - 00:18:25:04
Callum
So good.
00:18:25:11 - 00:18:42:13
Mark Daniels
So from there, yeah, I discharged and then I was like, Okay, I love fitness. Let's see what I can do. Yeah. My plan was to go into like working people with disabilities and actually finding people like myself and training the what I was finding is it was a lot of intellectual disability. I couldn't really find a lot of people with physical disability.
00:18:43:16 - 00:18:54:23
Mark Daniels
So what I'm doing now is just group fitness training. So not where I want to be, but right now it allows me to do my training and focus on my kayaking. Yeah, yeah. It works pretty well. That's cool.
00:18:55:00 - 00:18:56:16
Emily
Can we talk about your kayak?
00:18:56:16 - 00:18:58:01
Callum
Yeah, I want to I want to get into.
00:18:58:04 - 00:19:08:13
Emily
Like, can we get into this? Okay, so can you run us through when were you kayaking before your accident, or is this something that you kind of fell into when you went after the after your accident?
00:19:09:04 - 00:19:34:19
Mark Daniels
Oh, there was a lot of falling in. So I had quite a little bit of high school. And for me out to the Invictus Games Prince Harry, his games, which I love, the military Paralympics. Yeah. Yeah, I did that in 20, 18 and I got a gold medal in wheelchair rugby and a bronze medal in indoor rowing and while I was doing that, I saw this girl who is like the best bloke, his ex army, who lost both legs in an IED blast.
00:19:35:10 - 00:19:53:01
Mark Daniels
He's actually an Invictus Games athletes, and now he's like a three time Paralympic gold medalist. Geiger is like, Hey, look, we're looking for more targets for the team. Come give it a crack. Yeah. I'm like, I'm good at everything. I can do this. And I got on the boat. Oh, my God. Float this boat, like, tight. It's like just that much bigger than the hips.
00:19:53:12 - 00:20:12:09
Mark Daniels
So I'm not a small bloke. I play 110 kilos. The me in this little tiny boat trying to stay upright. I kept buoyant and I could just not stay upright. But the fact I couldn't do it pissed me off that much that I'd just get your mind back on. I fell in love with the sport because of how hard it was, because a lot how many things you have to overcome just to stay upright in the diet.
00:20:12:17 - 00:20:31:17
Mark Daniels
Yeah. So then as I started doing it started getting more and more in love with the sport, the community of the people around it. However, the wasn't the facility. So did the national championships, got the silver at the national championships my first year and then unless you're at that top level ready to go and represent Australia, there was no avenue, there was no entry development to it.
00:20:32:03 - 00:20:46:16
Mark Daniels
Yeah. So I kind of just fizzled off and went and did a lot of other things I went to travel and wakeboarding, biathlon, everything else. People waved in front of me. I'm like, Yeah, that sounds cool, let's get to it. Yeah, yeah. I mean that's it. When you're an adaptive athlete and you've got that potential, what everybody wants you.
00:20:47:03 - 00:20:50:06
Mark Daniels
So you're, you get a lot of offers and a lot of opportunity.
00:20:50:13 - 00:21:02:01
Callum
And if you've got the mindset like yourself, you're so like even you're so honest in a sense of you like, Oh yeah, I could crush this. And you figure it, it's hard, but you're like, Man, you just going for gold? I love it.
00:21:02:06 - 00:21:22:02
Mark Daniels
Yeah. So, so, yeah, that's been a pretty cool thing. And then my coach now, we had a new director come over the waves to the Institute of Sport, and he was like, What is your a new program? He just came from the UK and they're a huge part of any program, so we don't have one. There's like one guy that mucks around the kayak and battles these.
00:21:22:02 - 00:21:39:19
Mark Daniels
Let's start one. So then, yeah, got a phone call is I want to give it another crack. I'm like, Yeah, let's do it. So yeah, Robyn Anderson, who's an excellent in so it's just been amazing and instrumental to take me from just a gentle athlete fitness person to an athlete. So I've been with the Institute of Sport now for three years.
00:21:40:19 - 00:22:02:12
Mark Daniels
I was recently over in Poland competing at the World Cup. However, I got COVID, which yeah, the day of my finals I tested positive, which is a bit unfortunate because that's out. Yeah. So that's not turned into long COVID. So I'm still recovering four months later, but now I'm getting one or two sessions in a week really suffering from it.
00:22:02:19 - 00:22:20:11
Mark Daniels
So again, that's been another hurdle is when you have this athlete and then that gets taken away from you. My coping strategy, put your head down the ground, go train. When you train, what do you do how do you cope with that? So it's been a big year of learning for me that like I've had to learn other coping mechanisms actually deal with mental health issues.
00:22:20:16 - 00:22:21:01
Mark Daniels
Conversion.
00:22:21:01 - 00:22:23:00
Emily
Yeah. Can I ask what they actually all.
00:22:23:00 - 00:22:24:09
Callum
Collaborate on those?
00:22:25:06 - 00:22:41:04
Mark Daniels
Yeah. So normally it's yeah, I'll go and train. If I'm having a bad day, I'll go to the gym. That's my happy place to go. I'll train, I'll paddle when you're on the water. 5 a.m. you at a sunrise. It's beautiful. That's great. But you can't have a bad day with that. So now I've actually had to sit down and write some feelings down.
00:22:41:06 - 00:23:00:08
Mark Daniels
Actually, talk to my friends and my partner. What about what I'm doing to work on to shut myself in my study work? I've actually got to break down and I guess talk about it. I'll be seeing a psychologist for the last five years, and to actually get to that stage is really difficult because as men, young, strongly independent men, we don't have issues.
00:23:00:24 - 00:23:21:06
Mark Daniels
And it actually talk to the point where I'm like, Hey, I'm not okay here. Like, I was really suicidal, really struggling. I was drinking ridiculously just to deal with it because like when I had that buzz or when I was using painkillers, I just take the pain away. I do have to deal with it. So I started with some of the coping strategies I had, which weren't the healthiest, but they got me through.
00:23:22:05 - 00:23:40:23
Mark Daniels
So now, yeah, it's a lot more talking about it, actually processing the emotions. It'll be taking that little break when I need it, writing things down which I often write because I do quite a bit of keynote speaking or write a keynote speech, but I'll actually put how I'm feeling in it. And it's not to anyone, it's just to myself.
00:23:41:00 - 00:23:57:05
Mark Daniels
But I'll have these speeches that I write and it's just like getting everything out, getting it all on paper, and then you read it out loud, and when you're actually sitting there, you like you kind of just feel all the emotions so much more intensely and. Yeah, yeah, it's, it's been a weird kind of way to learn to express myself.
00:23:57:19 - 00:24:30:19
Emily
I actually love that you have spoken about this because like, I actually think this is really like it's just so important to especially like you were saying, you know, as a 20 to 23 year old guy, you were invincible. Right? That's what you said just before. You were like, I'm, I can just do anything and nothing can affect me and nothing or you know, and I'm sure you boys will be able to talk on that, but I just think it's so, it's so important to actually have that release either whether it's journaling, we're writing it down, speaking it out loud, talking to a friend, talking to your partner.
00:24:31:01 - 00:24:58:14
Emily
It's like if they're again, like you were saying before, you know, you know me a pain through other vices, which might be alcohol, drugs, whatever it might be. And I just think that's actually it's so cool to hear you talking about this and actually a from a 29 year old male being like, hey, let's talk about our feelings and how cool is the exact same where it's, it's just so important for us to actually talk because in here in our mind we we can concoct some major stories.
00:24:58:23 - 00:25:13:04
Callum
Well I mean and like am like you've taken ownership in every part like that has been pushed against you. You've taken ownership and you've found I mean to get over that hurdle and now you like taking ownership in your feelings. Right. And I think that's.
00:25:13:23 - 00:25:15:12
Emily
Why it's like yeah.
00:25:16:08 - 00:25:20:03
Callum
But so much harder because you could be like, oh, I feel like crap. I'm going to go to the gym. It's like, or.
00:25:20:03 - 00:25:20:18
Emily
Drink or.
00:25:20:18 - 00:25:24:17
Callum
I can't go to the gym. I feel like crap. Let me just general, you know.
00:25:25:05 - 00:25:40:19
Mark Daniels
Yeah, so it's not the same really as the lobbying side of it for 20 months now because I know that if I have another drink, I'm the type of person. Yes. That really is. Let's keep going yeah. But I think it's that social media world we live in. What I like, what I used to do is put up my highlights.
00:25:40:19 - 00:26:00:17
Mark Daniels
Like if you look at my Instagram now, I barely post. Yeah. Because I feel like when I post, I'm not being real to myself. Like right now I'm struggling. I'm dealing with mental health issues. Yeah. So if I post this, I'm having the best time of my life. I'm hitting all my training goals where I'm training once a week early even moving about going from the Australian team to now like barely able to stay in a boat and stay upright and brave.
00:26:01:08 - 00:26:14:24
Mark Daniels
I feel like I'm not being honest, I'm not being genuine and I guess that's that kind of my trap and fall and we post all these amazing Bali trips and we're having the best time of the lives and everything's great, but inside we're dying and that's exactly what it is that it used to show up on the highlights.
00:26:14:24 - 00:26:37:19
Mark Daniels
You look, every weekend I was off chasing another gold medal, chasing some other dream, just achievement. Because when I did that, everyone's like, You're the most amazing person you go. The accolades so amazing, amazing. I'm a gold and then but you don't actually dealing with what's going on inside something so guilty of falling into that trap that you just post the highlights post the lowlights, let people see what you're going through because then we make it socially acceptable.
00:26:37:19 - 00:26:50:18
Mark Daniels
We're talking about it, talking about what we go through on a daily basis. I mean, there's we've got to have these perfect Instagram bodies. What happens when you put on a bit of weight? What do you deal with that people just get not going to post for three months until I was away. But I mean, it's not realistic.
00:26:51:16 - 00:26:53:22
Callum
It's like, what my guy as a motivational speaker over here.
00:26:54:09 - 00:26:56:00
Emily
Knows what he's talking about.
00:26:56:00 - 00:27:16:11
Callum
Honestly, I think that's a keynote right there. It's like I'm I like that. I like that a lot, especially, again, coming from a male like I'm 30 and I mean, I have not been through what you've been through at all. But it's so it's so cool to hear that someone who has been against something for their entire life, it seems from 22 and some where you are now hurdle off the hurdle escape.
00:27:16:21 - 00:27:24:17
Callum
Okay, here's my hurdle. What can I do to overcome that instead of just giving up, you know, like that's cool. That's what we need more of, right?
00:27:25:16 - 00:27:46:22
Mark Daniels
Yeah, I get that a lot. People. Oh, if I was in your shoes, I couldn't do it, you know, like I would, I was like, well, you don't get an option. Like I think everyone looks at someone like myself in the light. I haven't been through being through, so I can't complain. But everything's relative. What we go through each and every day, whether it's a break out, whether it's putting on a bit of weight, losing a job like it's in that moment, if that affects you, that's what you need to deal with.
00:27:47:15 - 00:28:05:13
Mark Daniels
Just because someone has died, because you haven't been in a lot of changing car accident it doesn't matter. And I think, yeah, we get in this trap of like comparing ourselves to everyone else and going, Oh, well, I'm not going to complain. I'm going to push that aside because it's not a big issue. Yeah. And we actually just need to talk about what's going on in our lives and actually real with each other because we're also fake to each other.
00:28:05:13 - 00:28:16:02
Mark Daniels
Everything. Oh, yeah. I'm great. I like, you know, you're dying on the inside, like, you know, as a beauty, like you've got to apply act. You've got to put that space on a good. Yeah, we're good. Like I'm having the best day of my life and you're dying inside, but.
00:28:16:06 - 00:28:22:06
Callum
Know that bounce off of the other person. Like, if you're having a bad day, like almost a therapist.
00:28:23:04 - 00:28:30:21
Mark Daniels
Yeah, that's it. We have as much therapy as I'd have since I've become a crazy. Yeah, yeah. So if we like to therapy or really.
00:28:31:11 - 00:28:34:07
Emily
We like to call ourselves, like, unqualified therapists sometimes.
00:28:34:14 - 00:28:52:04
Callum
Yeah. Yeah, just our life and advice. Okay, so you've gone you've been through so much. You've done your Olympics in the World Cup in Poland. Yeah. What what are we looking at? What's next? What's next? What do we what do we need when we want to do?
00:28:53:03 - 00:29:21:21
Mark Daniels
I want the Paralympics. Yeah, I know. I'm still a gold medal chasing. Yeah, I've got to be careful of that because I had a chat with Brad Nasser's, the wheelchair basketball coach at the Institute of Sport, and he's an amputee himself. He's one full time Paralympian. He's been there, done everything. And when I was starting this journey, I was kind of aware that I was having this kind of gold medal chasing episode, and I needed to be careful that I'm not looking for that next thing to chase because I mean, I wasn't actually enjoying what I was doing.
00:29:22:11 - 00:29:39:07
Mark Daniels
I would just look for that next thing. And you're amazing. I'm like, I'm already halfway to the next goal. I do need to process it. Yes, I spend that much time worrying about what I'm doing and about the results more than the actual experience. So I was having a chat with Brad and he's like, Look, he's on my is this worth it?
00:29:39:07 - 00:29:55:15
Mark Daniels
Like should I do this? And he's like, If you're going to go to the Paralympics, to win a medal is like, don't waste your time. Not because you can't win a medal because if you're sacrificing, getting up at four 30 every morning, six days a week and you're sacrificing your friend Tom, your relationship all the time away is like, No, don't do it.
00:29:56:01 - 00:30:13:24
Mark Daniels
Because I think you do it for the journey because you want to grow. You want to be this person because you're not going to be the same person afterwards, then 100% over it. So I want to make Paris, but it's a long shot. So Curtis McCaw, I've got to beat him. There's only one spot for Australia and he's the 33 time world champion, so I've got to be best in the world if I want Paris.
00:30:14:11 - 00:30:23:13
Mark Daniels
What I a hard, hard goal is an amazing athlete. So it's probably looking like LA, but I'm still going to get Paris qualify as a pretty big shot next year. I bet.
00:30:23:13 - 00:30:23:23
Callum
You are.
00:30:23:23 - 00:30:34:10
Mark Daniels
I'm just going to get my body back in shape. Yeah, put a few kilos on since not training, so we've got to bounce back from this. Get myself back in form. I'm still up. Come back.
00:30:35:00 - 00:30:54:02
Emily
I literally love what you just said, and I actually truly believe that to my core as well. The journey is needs to be better than the destination or the like. The end goal. Because what do you do? What do you do it for? Because like, like you just said, Mark, like you get to that to the end and you know, you've got you've grinded, you've just you've hustled, you've done all the things you've sacrifice.
00:30:54:05 - 00:31:06:17
Emily
And if you don't get it, it's like, well, like what was the point? What you know, and all these, like, things that kind of go through your mind. And what I actually really want to ask you is what motivates you.
00:31:08:21 - 00:31:26:06
Mark Daniels
I guess for me, a 22, I figured out what it was like to die. I lay on the side of the road and people say that when you die, like your life flashes before you. For me it didn't. It was every reason I wanted to live. It was every mistake I made. Every time I was an asshole to someone, every time I just wanted to be a better person.
00:31:26:06 - 00:31:43:13
Mark Daniels
I just begged for whoever was listening, like God, whoever else. I'm not religious, but whoever was, I was begging anyone. I'm laying on the side of the road, bleeding out. I've got 5 minutes left to leave the ambulance in 7 minutes. I'm. I'm dying here. This is where I die. And like, you've lost it all. You know what it's like to die.
00:31:43:21 - 00:32:04:07
Mark Daniels
Yeah. And then you just wake up and you've got a second chance. And I made that promise that if I got a second chance, I'm living it. I'm living every second of it. So that's probably why I went out so hard at the start. But when you know what it's like to lose everything you want to make the most of everything you enjoy, every sunrise, every sunset, you want to wake up and just live life.
00:32:04:17 - 00:32:33:01
Mark Daniels
So for me, it's I guess part of it is redefining what it means to be disabled is that you don't see a lot of it. I mean, we're getting better with it. And, like, brands are getting a lot more inclusive we're seeing a lot more publicize about it. People with disabilities on TV. There's a lot of people doing amazing work, but I guess it's like changing that mentality of people like myself is that being disabled is a burden, and to change it to having a disability can be the most inspiring thing.
00:32:33:11 - 00:32:50:15
Mark Daniels
Or like you can live your life as a normal person and do everything anyone else can do. Yes, it's a bit harder. Like, yes, we need a lot more funding and a lot more equipment, but you can live life and I guess it's just showing people that and I guess preventing myself like I've got the second chance and I'm doing everything I can with it.
00:32:51:05 - 00:32:58:11
Emily
Honestly, that is seriously so inspiring like that. It quite ridiculous. I want to talk about that funding because.
00:32:59:04 - 00:33:00:06
Mark Daniels
I heard.
00:33:00:11 - 00:33:05:15
Emily
That it is very expensive to have how many prosthetic legs you have?
00:33:06:09 - 00:33:32:24
Mark Daniels
Yes, I have a feature legs so the only thing I have more than legs that shoots my shoe collection is really ridiculous. However, my leg collection is worth over half a million dollars these legs only less believable. Yes, yes. Give us a look. Oh, so this is my everyday life. It's full of water from kayaking, so. Right. So this is my every day.
00:33:33:21 - 00:33:51:20
Mark Daniels
So I use kind of like a little mini blade on it. Yeah. And then my legs, it's in this bottle. Yeah. So I've got six different prosthetics. One, let's see an absolute drench right now. I didn't see my leg at the time. It was worth it. It was. So I've got like two of those, like they're 160,000 each.
00:33:52:11 - 00:34:13:04
Mark Daniels
My running leg is $20,000, my cycle likes $30,000. I've got a leg that lets me let powerlifters wipe one sample, that's another $20,000. And then it just go with the basic line I got from hospital which is about 10,000. They've got to be changed between every three, which is and everyone's all, you have all these cool, amazing legs, but people don't get access to what I've got.
00:34:13:07 - 00:34:32:04
Mark Daniels
I've got it because I've got over $200,000 worth of likes and for me not having the money like didn't matter, having the quality of life I had to just yeah, being alive yeah. And I needed to get back to what I was doing beforehand. So I've learned inside fundraising, I borrowed from the Insurance Commission to be able to get the legs that I need.
00:34:32:14 - 00:35:00:10
Mark Daniels
Yeah, it's most people get a really basic late and they don't have the quality of life that they want because they don't have the money. And although we have injuries now and that's helping a lot of people you're still not getting top quality legs and know everyone goes, Oh, but it's a luxury to have these links. But I mean, do you guys need to justify $20,000 before you can give or run and that's what we're trying to missing is the people making these decisions on the people that have to fork out $40,000 to have to ride a bike or they want to go to the gym.
00:35:00:10 - 00:35:16:17
Mark Daniels
So that's another $20,000 yeah. To do triathlon, it cost me $50,000 just to do a triathlon, just as I needed the legs to be able to do it. And I guess these are the things that people don't realize is like, yes, we have this amazing technology, but you've got to pay for it yourself. You've got to find a way to fundraise to get the money.
00:35:17:02 - 00:35:26:08
Mark Daniels
And I've had some amazing people support and help me get the money, but without those people I probably wouldn't have the quality of life or don't spend the last seven years. Yeah.
00:35:27:06 - 00:35:29:07
Emily
Yeah. Honestly, it's actually quite a movie.
00:35:29:07 - 00:35:30:24
Mark Daniels
It's just it's on.
00:35:31:20 - 00:35:47:03
Callum
My but it is it's more like it's like in perspective for me. It's like I recently just did a half marathon and like six weeks before that, I just went out and bought a new pair of shoes that I could run in. And it's like that there's a need for us as well. Like, I just wanted a new pair of shoes to run in.
00:35:47:03 - 00:35:51:08
Callum
I had another pair I wanted. But you like, you need a leg?
00:35:51:08 - 00:36:08:15
Mark Daniels
Yeah. Yeah, but you can't run without a running mate. Like, no legs, like. Yeah, I like what? These are things we need. But then the way that the Insurance Commission and the IRS look at it is that you have to be able to justify it. You have to make it reasonable and justifiable. Yeah. Then being able to run it is a not a neat.
00:36:09:04 - 00:36:10:20
Emily
Yeah. I need to get.
00:36:10:20 - 00:36:12:05
Mark Daniels
To walk you. Don't you be able to run.
00:36:12:23 - 00:36:27:03
Emily
Exactly. And I actually, if you could tell someone who potentially is going through something that you went through or even anyone with a disability, what would you say to them?
00:36:29:12 - 00:36:44:15
Mark Daniels
I guess never take no for an answer. There's always a way there's always a way we can adapt, a way we can really learn learning how to drive again. But it seems like a huge thing. But learning to drop off your left leg, what you do is trying to use a left leg and a break. You know, something on the windscreen.
00:36:44:19 - 00:36:45:06
Emily
Exactly.
00:36:46:16 - 00:37:04:02
Mark Daniels
Yeah. When do you actually go to drop your left leg? Things like that. Yeah. So it's a way to learn and it's just about that mentality shift and when you're not trying to push against the system. So the mistake I made very early on is I refused to be disabled, I wasn't disabled, I was going to fight against the I was going, Yeah, yeah, I did not have disability.
00:37:04:13 - 00:37:04:18
Emily
Yeah.
00:37:04:23 - 00:37:22:01
Mark Daniels
And I nearly killed myself doing it really hurt myself. But my body, because I was doing it so violently and with deadlifting in those crazy box arms, you were talking about stuff. Yeah, that was the stuff that was killing me because I wasn't doing any rehab or wasn't learning how to do it safely. I was just setting these stupid goals and doing them crazy.
00:37:22:01 - 00:37:42:11
Mark Daniels
Yes, they look amazing on Instagram. You get all the hype, but then it's like, do you see? Yeah. It's learning from people that not let network with other amputees figure out who's done it. The best way I've actually learned is reaching out to people that have done things I'm like, There's no God to be an amputee, but we're all here to guide each other because we know what it's like when you're in that situation.
00:37:42:20 - 00:37:51:08
Mark Daniels
Yes, okay, this is my life. How do I do this? So when you've got this amazing support network and people are willing to help, you just reach out to people.
00:37:51:22 - 00:38:14:03
Callum
Yeah. And it sounds like from like the people that helped you along that journey, like pulled together and those guys that, that like you're putting it in the proof is in the pudding there that you've looked up to people who have been in a similar circumstance that have helped you but it's even cool just to see like the journey that you've transitioned from, like who you just wanted to prove to the world that you weren't disabled today.
00:38:14:03 - 00:38:23:21
Callum
Like owning it and being like, okay, then, yep, I am, I am where I'm at now, but I'm not going to let that define me. And I think that's sick. And like you said, you've got it. You've got it tattooed on you, right?
00:38:24:20 - 00:38:26:00
Mark Daniels
Yeah. You can't grow that.
00:38:27:11 - 00:38:28:00
Emily
That's only for.
00:38:28:00 - 00:38:28:23
Callum
Life. You've actually.
00:38:28:23 - 00:38:29:09
Mark Daniels
Got to live.
00:38:32:01 - 00:38:42:20
Emily
Well before we wrap up, normally what we do is a little past five. So basically we just going to Rapidfire, five quick questions at you and just whatever comes to mind. Honestly, spit it out. Okay.
00:38:43:14 - 00:38:45:05
Mark Daniels
All right, let's do it. Okay.
00:38:45:16 - 00:38:48:21
Emily
First one is if you could beat a Guinness World Record, what would it be for.
00:38:51:08 - 00:38:52:13
Mark Daniels
Highest one legged boxing?
00:38:53:21 - 00:38:57:18
Emily
Highest one like a boxer. Yeah, I love that. What would you what would just be mine?
00:38:57:20 - 00:38:59:21
Callum
Yeah, holding my breath the longest.
00:38:59:23 - 00:39:01:04
Emily
Well, really.
00:39:01:08 - 00:39:01:20
Callum
What would you as.
00:39:01:20 - 00:39:04:00
Emily
A mom would be something dumb, you know, like how many.
00:39:04:15 - 00:39:05:18
Callum
Harmonicas you can hold.
00:39:05:18 - 00:39:08:21
Mark Daniels
In one hand. And I think you've done something.
00:39:09:01 - 00:39:09:11
Emily
I know it.
00:39:09:23 - 00:39:13:10
Callum
If you could live on the sea for the rest of your life or live on land, what would it be?
00:39:14:05 - 00:39:20:15
Mark Daniels
Sea. Always being ocean. Love being out of the water. On the water. Around the water. Yeah. I'll be the one legged mermaid.
00:39:22:23 - 00:39:23:13
Emily
Make that happen.
00:39:23:13 - 00:39:25:14
Callum
But I would love to that.
00:39:26:08 - 00:39:29:04
Mark Daniels
My food. Chocolate.
00:39:30:23 - 00:39:31:20
Emily
My man chocolate.
00:39:31:21 - 00:39:34:01
Mark Daniels
My man. We can up.
00:39:34:15 - 00:39:36:07
Callum
What would you do if we won the lottery.
00:39:38:01 - 00:39:51:07
Mark Daniels
By everyone likes? That's the way to help everyone with everything. Get them the funding and the equipment and more access to a doctor, sports equipment and schooling, stuff like that. Just get people involved.
00:39:51:07 - 00:39:56:24
Emily
Elliot amazing. Yeah, me too. And Lucky Last is sunrise or sunset.
00:39:58:08 - 00:40:00:17
Mark Daniels
Sunrise. Sunset brunch.
00:40:01:02 - 00:40:03:15
Emily
Yeah. Yeah, I'm the exact same. Sunrise is the best.
00:40:04:13 - 00:40:05:13
Mark Daniels
I'm ready for bed at sunset.
00:40:06:08 - 00:40:07:21
Emily
That feels if it.
00:40:07:22 - 00:40:08:07
Mark Daniels
Up at.
00:40:08:07 - 00:40:10:12
Emily
Sunrise. Sunset if we.
00:40:10:12 - 00:40:11:04
Callum
Need to barely.
00:40:11:15 - 00:40:11:24
Emily
Early to.
00:40:11:24 - 00:40:15:01
Callum
Bed. You got to catch the sunrise the next morning. It's fresh in this loop.
00:40:15:23 - 00:40:16:14
Mark Daniels
It's a cycle.
00:40:17:15 - 00:40:34:19
Callum
Thank you so much for joining us. You are truly an inspiration and it's been. I still can't fathom I'm still in my head. I'm listening to that list of injuries that you went through and oh, I mean everything that you've been up against a true testament to the nature that you are now keep doing what you're doing, keep inspiring other people.
00:40:35:01 - 00:40:43:02
Callum
People are going to look up to you as well, just as you did to fall together and all those other names that you've dropped as well. We want to see we we want to say.
00:40:43:22 - 00:40:50:23
Emily
We we want to see you in LA or I mean, let's can we aim for Paris? Do we dare do we dare say it out loud like yes.
00:40:50:23 - 00:40:59:10
Mark Daniels
Welcome. I'm giving it a shot of manifesting it. It's going to happen. I'll give it away. And if I miss, then we learn from it. We move on and set that next goal.
00:40:59:22 - 00:41:11:09
Callum
I don't want to I don't want to set it up just yet, but we have this thing going on. We had Mark I on and he then one survivor, and then we had Matt, Danny, on and he just got gold.
00:41:12:12 - 00:41:16:19
Emily
We do you think I mean, I know I don't want to talk our stuff up, but we do things to.
00:41:17:11 - 00:41:21:10
Mark Daniels
I'll come back, I want to win the gold medal. I'll come back and get us to 11. Oh yes.
00:41:22:00 - 00:41:24:12
Emily
Yes, we would love to. Thank you so much.
00:41:24:12 - 00:41:25:03
Callum
Nice man.
00:41:25:22 - 00:41:27:02
Mark Daniels
Now. Thanks, guys. It's been awesome.
00:41:28:00 - 00:41:29:16
Callum
Awesome. All right. Catch our.
00:41:30:15 - 00:41:31:04
Mark Daniels
Best guys.