Vivat Mark! One Brave OH Needs Our Help – Who can forget the first term of their Lower Sixth? Back to school in new suits, the novelty of A-Levels and a newfound swagger at being part of the sixth form. Heady days.

Mark Bowen (LS & K 89) always remembers that time. Because four weeks into it, aged 16, a terrible rugby accident changed his life forever. Today, Mark, a quadriplegic and one of the school’s most courageous OHs, needs our support, from the OH community and beyond.

This call comes, sadly, due to the largely inadequate financial settlement Mark received in the wake of his accident. These circumstances back then make Mark’s life today so much harder than anyone could have anticipated 33 years ago when, in a split-second, the whole world came crashing down on a fresh-faced lad who had only completed his GCSEs the previous term.

So please donate below and share this message with whoever you think can help us, in order to help reach our donation target. We want to back Mark to live a life – after more than three decades of all kinds of unimaginable struggle – that he and his 11-year-old daughter deserve.

From Rugby Star To Wheelchair & Round-The-Clock Care

Thirty-three years ago this month, on October 4^th 1992, Mark, a vicar’s son and shoe-in for the XV as a precociously talented loosehead prop, broke his neck playing against Germany for an U19 Middlesex side. He has been confined to a wheelchair and has needed 24-hour care ever since. These days, you might expect that an accident for someone so young would result in multi million pound compensation, but in fact Mark received a modest insurance pay-out from the RFU, which was supplemented by the school’s own insurance payment, plus charitable donations from Haileybury-led fund-raising shortly afterwards. These funds are now running out. As a professionally qualified psychotherapist, Mark works hard to support others through tough times, but his own circumstances are becoming increasingly challenging. As the film shows, the actual reality of living with a severe disability is inconceivable for many of us. Mark lives it every day. Not being able to walk, says Mark, ‘is the easy bit’.

Love Lifts Hearts, But It Can’t Foot Costs Of Lifelong Disability

Mark, who will be 50 in a few months’ time, lives in Cornwall with his daughter, is lucky to have a very supportive and loving family. The picture below may jog some memories as Mark’s OH sisters [Kate (Alb & K 94), Claire (Alb & K 97) and Beth (Alb & K 98)].

Converting Hardship Into Real Quality Of Life

In late 2019, Mark asked me to become a trustee of the fund created after his accident as previous trustees retired. It rapidly became clear that he had been living very frugally, foregoing much that others of us take for granted, and that remaining funds would not be sufficient to sustain both him and his daughter in the medium to long term. Career opportunities for severely disabled people to obtain gainful employment are extremely limited, particularly for someone injured at such a young age. Despite this, Mark has gone to tremendous lengths to train as a psychotherapist, using his experiences to enable others and contribute to his cost-of-living needs.

But now, unfortunately, Mark’s funds are diminishing more quickly than previously – partly due to increased costs of raising an older child and partly through general cost-of-living increases. As a result, he can no longer engage in many of the activities that the trust was intended to support. Things like occasional holidays, trips to visit family and friends and therapeutic support are essential to his quality of life. They provide purpose and meaning and allow Mark to thrive rather than merely survive.

Tackling The Problem: A £300,000+ Shortfall

Immediately after the accident, funds were raised to safeguard Mark’s future as described above. These enabled him to buy a home in Ware and a modified car, with the balance invested to provide a long-term income. Unfortunately, the sum invested was roughly half of the estimated £750,000 he would need to live out his life in comfort, and far below the £1 million that former staff member and England centre Dan Hearn, who was similarly injured, campaigned for at the time. Spinal injury claims today often result in very large settlements – much more than Mark received, even adjusted for inflation. His payments were never sufficient to support him for life, never had any actuarial basis, and certainly did not anticipate him raising a child of his own.

We have engaged with the RFU’s Injured Player’s Foundation who have agreed to assist with some long-overdue updates to Mark’s bungalow in Cornwall. Whilst they are happy to assist with renovations, they are not prepared to assist with day-to-day living costs.

Our ultimate aim is to raise £300,000 to provide Mark with a modest income over the next 20 years. This would allow him to pay his bills, maintain his property, take his daughter on holiday and visit his mother and sisters in other parts of the UK and Ireland. For context, financial advisors suggest savers need a pension pot of around £400,000 on top of the state pension to live a moderately comfortable retirement. Mark is still 16 years away from the state retirement age and has no such pot, a dependent child and no realistic way to build one. I appreciate our request is significant but also hopefully realistic and not arrived at without careful thought.

Donate To Help Mark Over The Line. Thank you

I am asking you to please give what you can so that Mark can continue to live a full and independent life with his daughter. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Jane Everard and the OH Society for supporting this appeal, and to Jo Elliott, who so generously gave her time to produce the accompanying short film.

Thank you for your time and any assistance you feel you are able to give. Please share this message with whoever you would like to see it. If you wish to donate, ideally with Gift Aid, you can do so below.

Click Here to Donate

With sincere thanks,

George Williams (K 88)