August
2003
What an inspiration |
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| Mark
in his office |
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Mark
Sellwood, a former student at Birmingham university, has just
secured a job working at the Foundation for Sports.
Despite having had two heart operations, he's a keen badminton player,
and is ranked 16th in the England Men’s singles. |
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Here’s
Mark's story....
I came to Birmingham from a small town in Shropshire. I started playing
badminton at the age of 10 and represented my county.
I was:
County Champion from the age of 15
In the England Under 17 squad
Ranked No.3 in singles and No.5 in doubles in the Under 19 age group.
| Living
with a rare heart condition |
It hasn’t all been so straight forward though. When I was 14, I was
diagnosed with a rare heart condition. The condition, which only affects
1 in 50,000, meant that a second circuit would start to fire off in
my heart when I was under pressure from exercise and in effect gave
me two heartbeats.
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| Mark
playing badminton |
Sometimes
I would stop exercising and my heart would continue racing for two
hours. Other times I would carry on exercising and it would return
to normal after ten minutes or so.
With this abnormal circuit, I would reach heart rates of 300+ beats
a minute, which as you can imagine was painful and unnerving.
I have since discovered that this is similar to what happens during
a heart attack!
However, I wasn’t going to let this stop my love of sport. It affected
me all through my badminton career - meaning I couldn’t train properly.
When it happened during matches it was very hard for me to push myself.
I chose
to study at Birmingham University largely because of the sports facilities
available to students and the chance to further my badminton career.
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| Mark
getting a trophy |
In my
first year at university I was lucky enough to get a bronze scholarship
- this meant I got some things paid for - such as training facilities
and physiotherapy.
If you get a silver or gold scholarship you get a bit more - such
as equipment paid for etc.
In my first year I gained a silver medal in the doubles and a team
silver in the BUSA (British Universities Sports Association)
Around the time I came to University I was referred to the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital in Edgbaston to see the specialist.
I was
subsequently booked for keyhole surgery towards the end of my first
year. The surgeons told me the procedure would probably last two and
a half hours and I would receive about five scars via a laser on the
abnormal circuit to stop it conducting. After 5 hours of surgery and
21 scars in my heart the doctors were satisfied with the outcome.
Because of my operation I started my second year without a scholarship
- however after proving myself in a some of the competitions - I was
awarded a bursary half way through the year.
By the end of the second year we'd got a team silver and I gained
silver in both singles and doubles and a bronze in mixed from BUSA.
My heart condition returned
Agonisingly during my second year my heart condition returned - they
had missed some of the circuit so, at the end of my second year, I
underwent another 4.5 hours and 11 more scars.
This time the operation seems to have been successful and the affliction
has not returned. This is the main reason I've been able to rise to
the position of 16th in England, even during an injury-ridden season.
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| Mark's
looking forward to the future |
In my
final year the number of scholarships were cut - so unfortunately
I didn’t manage to get one. However it proved a good year - I gained
more BUSA medals as well as winning the ‘Cornwall Open’, and I am
currently placed 16th in the Badminton Association of England Men’s
singles ranking.
Towards the end of my studies I applied for the Intra-Mural Sports
co-ordinator job at the University of Birmingham.
The job represents a great opportunity for me to gain experience in
my chosen field of work.
Because of the extensive range of sports facilities available, it
means I can fit my training in around my working hours without having
to travel.
Hopefully the future will be an exciting and above all a healthy one.
Mark.
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COMPETITIONS |
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Your chance to win lots of freebies. From cinema and gig tickets to CDs
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