Michael McGrath
Could you explain exactly what muscular dystrophy is, and how many people suffer from it in the UK?
Muscular dystrophy is a debilitating, cruel, unforgiving, muscle-wasting, progressive disease that mainly affects children. There are upwards of 65 variations; I’m fortunate that I have a milder version, but I’ve still lost nearly 65 per cent of my muscle bulk. The condition was diagnosed when I was 17 years old. Before then, I had wanted to be a professional golfer and was very fit, strong and competitive. At the age of 14, I was invited to play at junior Wimbledon. I now live a very sedentary life, mostly in my chair – my chariot, as I call it – which enables me to get around and live life to the full. There are between 30,000 and 40,000 people with muscular dystrophy in the UK, and worldwide there are upwards of three million.
What made you decide to go to the poles?
I read something in the Financial Times about a chap who was going to go to the North Pole to raise money for charity. At the time, I was looking for a new challenge, so it got me thinking. While planning to go there, I was introduced to a gentleman named Miles Peckham, who ended up coming with me on both expeditions and has since become the chairman of the Muscular Help Foundation and a very dear friend. When we reached the North Pole after walking the last 150 metres, Miles turned to me and said: “Michael, what about you and I go to the South Pole too? After all, what goes up must come down.” So I spent the next 18 months planning the South Pole expedition to walk the last 310 metres. Both trips were aimed at generating awareness and funding.
What was your first impression upon arrival at the poles?
Following two previous attempts to get on to the Arctic ice cap, once I was physically lifted down the steps of the helicopter and onto the ice it was a tremendous sense of exhilaration. But the moment of actually arriving at both poles, after walking, was pure adrenalin. They were both moments of truth in terms of realising an ambition where 99 per cent of people believed it wasn’t possible. So many people said to me, “Michael, you can’t do that,” when I announced I was going. Comments such as these spurred me on enormously. A lot of people say to me, “You only walked 150 metres,” but for me it was my Everest.
What was the lowest point of the expedition?
Probably waiting in Spitzbergen for the right weather conditions to fly to the Arctic ice cap and start the challenge. The weather was dreadful; there was a blizzard and it was a whiteout. After three days waiting, we finally flew in, but one of the expedition members – Major Craig Kerry Williams, who is currently dodging bullets in Iraq – assessed the conditions and took exactly the right decision to get back on that aircraft and return to Spitzbergen. It just wasn’t safe.
You can imagine my emotional state at that time. Here we are at our base camp, we’re about an hour by helicopter to within a short distance of the North Pole – I really didn’t want to leave. I was just an hour away from my goal. But nobody knew how long the blizzard was going to last, so we went back. I felt very low, and I thought, “Is this it? Is this as close as I am going to get?” Anyway, two days later we flew back and proceeded on.
What do you think you learnt from your experiences?
Fundamentally, I learnt to have much greater belief in humankind. I think I needed these experiences to reaffirm that. Second, you have to have aircraft-hangers of patience at your disposal; patience in yourself, patience in other people and patience in the weather. I also learnt to accept my weaknesses, but also recognise the strengths of the team members around me who enabled the pole-to-pole challenge to happen. And finally, I learnt that I have an incredibly supportive network of friends and a wife and daughter who believed in me and gave me their blessing, which was very important to me.
How did you go about preparing for the expeditions?
Planning, preparation and persistence are the three key ingredients. You have to have a very clear strategy and be very focused. Every day during the three months before I went to the North Pole, I made sure that I asked myself three questions: is this the right thing, am I on track and am I doing all the things that I need to be doing? This made sure I gave myself the best possible chance of success. Also, in terms of physical preparation, I used an empty frozen-food lorry chilled to –25°C to simulate the temperatures at the poles and practised walking in the specialist clothing and the polar boots kindly lent to me by explorer Pen Hadow.
What’s next?
I’m in the process of planning a global muscle challenge that will get people from all over the world involved. I can’t say any more just yet as we’re still working on it – we’re hoping to announce it later this year. Losing 65 per cent of my muscle bulk hasn’t stopped me from helping others to achieve things. I’m a man on a mission.
Muscular dystrophy is a debilitating, cruel, unforgiving, muscle-wasting, progressive disease that mainly affects children. There are upwards of 65 variations; I’m fortunate that I have a milder version, but I’ve still lost nearly 65 per cent of my muscle bulk. The condition was diagnosed when I was 17 years old. Before then, I had wanted to be a professional golfer and was very fit, strong and competitive. At the age of 14, I was invited to play at junior Wimbledon. I now live a very sedentary life, mostly in my chair – my chariot, as I call it – which enables me to get around and live life to the full. There are between 30,000 and 40,000 people with muscular dystrophy in the UK, and worldwide there are upwards of three million.
What made you decide to go to the poles?
I read something in the Financial Times about a chap who was going to go to the North Pole to raise money for charity. At the time, I was looking for a new challenge, so it got me thinking. While planning to go there, I was introduced to a gentleman named Miles Peckham, who ended up coming with me on both expeditions and has since become the chairman of the Muscular Help Foundation and a very dear friend. When we reached the North Pole after walking the last 150 metres, Miles turned to me and said: “Michael, what about you and I go to the South Pole too? After all, what goes up must come down.” So I spent the next 18 months planning the South Pole expedition to walk the last 310 metres. Both trips were aimed at generating awareness and funding.
What was your first impression upon arrival at the poles?
Following two previous attempts to get on to the Arctic ice cap, once I was physically lifted down the steps of the helicopter and onto the ice it was a tremendous sense of exhilaration. But the moment of actually arriving at both poles, after walking, was pure adrenalin. They were both moments of truth in terms of realising an ambition where 99 per cent of people believed it wasn’t possible. So many people said to me, “Michael, you can’t do that,” when I announced I was going. Comments such as these spurred me on enormously. A lot of people say to me, “You only walked 150 metres,” but for me it was my Everest.
What was the lowest point of the expedition?
Probably waiting in Spitzbergen for the right weather conditions to fly to the Arctic ice cap and start the challenge. The weather was dreadful; there was a blizzard and it was a whiteout. After three days waiting, we finally flew in, but one of the expedition members – Major Craig Kerry Williams, who is currently dodging bullets in Iraq – assessed the conditions and took exactly the right decision to get back on that aircraft and return to Spitzbergen. It just wasn’t safe.
You can imagine my emotional state at that time. Here we are at our base camp, we’re about an hour by helicopter to within a short distance of the North Pole – I really didn’t want to leave. I was just an hour away from my goal. But nobody knew how long the blizzard was going to last, so we went back. I felt very low, and I thought, “Is this it? Is this as close as I am going to get?” Anyway, two days later we flew back and proceeded on.
What do you think you learnt from your experiences?
Fundamentally, I learnt to have much greater belief in humankind. I think I needed these experiences to reaffirm that. Second, you have to have aircraft-hangers of patience at your disposal; patience in yourself, patience in other people and patience in the weather. I also learnt to accept my weaknesses, but also recognise the strengths of the team members around me who enabled the pole-to-pole challenge to happen. And finally, I learnt that I have an incredibly supportive network of friends and a wife and daughter who believed in me and gave me their blessing, which was very important to me.
How did you go about preparing for the expeditions?
Planning, preparation and persistence are the three key ingredients. You have to have a very clear strategy and be very focused. Every day during the three months before I went to the North Pole, I made sure that I asked myself three questions: is this the right thing, am I on track and am I doing all the things that I need to be doing? This made sure I gave myself the best possible chance of success. Also, in terms of physical preparation, I used an empty frozen-food lorry chilled to –25°C to simulate the temperatures at the poles and practised walking in the specialist clothing and the polar boots kindly lent to me by explorer Pen Hadow.
What’s next?
I’m in the process of planning a global muscle challenge that will get people from all over the world involved. I can’t say any more just yet as we’re still working on it – we’re hoping to announce it later this year. Losing 65 per cent of my muscle bulk hasn’t stopped me from helping others to achieve things. I’m a man on a mission.
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