Mark Vardon-Odonkor, an implant surgeon from London, will cycle 450 miles across the Pyrenees to raise money for Bridge2aid.
This comes after Mark was involved in a life-threatening collision with a car where he lost consciousness and suffered a serious head injury.
‘I sustained lacerations to my right cheek and ear and a head injury,’ Mark said.
‘Unfortunately, I had a subdural haematoma – a serious condition where blood collects between the skull and the surface of the brain – which was missed by doctors in the UK and picked up almost two months after the accident by doctors in Ghana.
‘It was drained in an emergency procedure and I began to improve after surgery.’
Training
Mark will join cyclists from dentistry who will be cycling across northern Spain from Cap D’Agde to San Sebastian.
Organised by Straumann, the event will take only five days, cover 462 miles and would involve 34,000+ ft in climbs and will start tomorrow (Thursday 14 September), with money going to Bridge2aid to help train local healthcare clinicians to treat dental disease in a clinic in Tanzania.
‘I resumed training in early August, with short rides and then built up to longer distances,’ Mark continued.
‘Having been a patient in a hospital in third world country, I have had an insight into how far patients have to travel to gain access to modern healthcare; often this is hundreds of miles.’
You can contribute to help Mark’s fundraising effort by visiting his Justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Mark-Vardon-Odonkor1.
