Mark's Journey

My CV will tell you that my name is Mark Wilson, I was born in Tauranga, have a degree from Waikato University and work in the finance department of one of New Zealand’s biggest banks. My Facebook profile will show that I enjoy going to concerts and how much fun I have with friends. My family and friends, well they’ll tell you I live life to the fullest.

Sounds pretty normal right? What those things fail to tell you is that I was never meant to live a life like this. I was born with Cerebral Palsy, and my parents were told that I would never walk or talk. They were to take me home, love me but don’t expect much.

Early Years & Therapy

At 11 months old I couldn’t pull my head up off the ground or rollover, or play with toys as my hand couldn’t hold anything... I cried constantly as I was in so much pain all the time and was only comfortable in water or standing up.

My parents, wanting more for me, started me on an intense therapy programme aimed at training new brain cells to take over the functions of the ones that died at birth. With the help of my parents and 30 volunteers, I worked 4 hours a day, 6 days a week until I was six years old. Over these six years, especially in the first few, life wasn’t easy. Mum didn’t just hit rock bottom; she lived there, and dad did the only thing he knew how to, went to work and made sure we have everything we needed.

They didn’t know whether they were doing the right thing either by doing the therapy and had no idea of any outcomes to expect. I am sure this was one of the lowest points for our family and luckily, I have minimal memory of these early years of my life.

As the years passed and the therapy continued things became easier for our family and I was able to do more and more. Eventually by the age of six I started school and I was just able to walk. My teacher aide continued therapy at school and as the years went by I became stronger and around the age of eight or nine, I was able to run, play sports, and participate in mainstream classrooms and activities just like my peers. The determination of my mum and dad and also my own, along with the guidance of neurodevelopmental therapist Ian Hunter made this possible.

Bullying and Sport

From then on struggles in life still continued, mainly around bullying.  At this time, I was more aware of my differences, I had low self-confidence and was always cautious of what people thought of me, and so I began to withdraw. I found it the hardest at college as students are much more aware of their social image and are easily caught up in what others think of them. It got to the point where I would sit alone at lunchtimes and try my best to hide.

Education

After attending a careers day at school, business studies stood out for me as a good career pathway and I was told that I could start a year early if my grades were good enough.  Keen to escape the bullying of college I worked hard and got accepted for a 4 year Business Management Degree at the University of Waikato a year early.  It was the best thing for me, I did not experience any further bullying and my self-confidence grew. For the first time, I was viewed as just another student and not as the disabled kid. I made a great bunch of mates from all over the place and my circle of friends just got bigger and bigger.  I thrived, and when I graduated Waikato University with my degree I was inducted into the Golden Key Honours Society which is for students whose grades are in the top 15% of their university.