He was within a month of his twenty-first birthday, and studying accounting at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His dream was to don the mortarboard and gown of a graduate, then the world would be his oyster.
Home on holiday, Mark Richardson set off in the late afternoon of October 14, 1986 to test his bike. That night, he was planning to join his brother and their friends riding around the Island.
Leaving his Pembroke home, he sped along the North Shore. The sun was on his back, the air was fresh and cool as it flowed past his face, and his finely-tuned bike was purring like a kitten.
Life couldn't be sweeter -- until Mr. Richardson approached a bend and a car suddenly pulled into his path. Swerving to avoid it, he slammed headlong into a wall. Seconds later he was lying in the road with massive head and other injuries; a still, silent, bleeding wreck of young manhood.
For his brother, who had gone ahead of Mark to gas up for the night's ride and was summoned back to the scene, and his mother Madree, who came upon him in the road on her way home from work, the shock of the accident was immense, for they were a close and loving family.
Transferred to the Intensive Care unit of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, Mr. Richardson lay in a coma for seven weeks, anxiously watched by his distraught relatives and a medical team led by Dr. John Stubbs.
Each day his loved ones kept a vigil at his bedside not knowing when, or if ever, he would regain consciousness. They read to him, they made tapes to play to him, they talked to him, and above all they prayed for him.
Finally, the strain was such that Mr. Richardson's mother was advised to go abroad for a rest. For all of the five days she was away, Mrs. Sampson telephoned Dr. Stubbs every day. On one of them he told her that her son had suddenly screamed. It was the first significant sign of improvement he had shown.
Then, on the day before his twenty-first birthday, with his mother sitting faithfully at his bedside, Mr. Richardson suddenly opened his eyes -- just in time to see the big birthday cake with candles she had prepared.
It was the beginning of a long, long road back, during which the young man would be transferred to the New England Rehabilitation Center in Woburn, Massachusetts. There are three phases to rehabilitation, but the money which had been raised to help the family had run out, so because his insurance did not cover rehabilitation he returned home after completing just the first phase. Still, he had fulfilled one goal: having left Bermuda in a wheelchair, he returned on two elbow crutches.
Progress thereafter would continue slowly, but surely, for Mr. Richardson's motto was -- and is -- `Never Give Up' -- and goodness knows, he had innumerable reasons to do so along the way. He had, for example, to learn everything again like a newborn -- from the alphabet to speaking, feeding himself, and more. At one stage he could only crawl.
Yet he persevered, constantly supported by the prayers and encouragement of his family and friends, as well as his own faith. His mother even gave up a good job to work with her injured son every day.
Little by little Mr. Richardson improved, continuing his therapy at the King Edward Hospital, and when one goal was achieved he set another. Of course, there were many times when he would experience anger and frustration because, while his mind was perfectly sound, it didn't always translate into effective communication or co-ordination since the accident had affected his motor skills and speech.
"It was very frustrating not being able to do or say what you wanted to,'' Mr. Richardson remembers. "You are inside this body but you can't control what you are doing. Your brain works, you know what you want to say, but you can't say it. Then, people ostracise you and you get angry.'' In fact, he says that when he returned to Bermuda from Massachusetts he felt totally shunned from society, and for several years he didn't leave home.
Through sheer determination and hard work, Mr. Richardson relearned what previously had come easily to him. Amazingly, perhaps, while he could remember nothing of his accident, the knowledge he had gained at St. Mary's was still safely stored within his memory.
Always fiercely independent, he eventually made up his mind to return to his studies in Canada, but his mother, in particular, remained concerned for his safety because of his impaired ambulatory skills in a bustling community with heavy traffic. In the end, Mr. Richardson returned home and found work in the Accountant General's department of Government.
"People were great. I loved my boss and my co-workers, but the job just wasn't for me, it wasn't satisfying,'' he explains.
So it was that, in 1997, he became a full-time student at the Bermuda College and for the next two and a half years studied business administration with a concentration in computers. With the same determination which had brought him back from being a physical wreck, he pursued his academic dreams, commuting to and from his Pembroke home by a combination of buses, or even walking.
The year 2000 will be one that Mr. Richardson never forgets.
First, came his June graduation from the Bermuda College with an Associate degree in Business Administration. With memories of a standing ovation ringing in his ears, he then moved on to his next adventure: putting to sea on the tall ship Lord Nelson on her voyage from Bermuda to New York.
As someone who was always interested in sailing it was a powerful experience, and one from which Mark would return with a new outlook on life.
Surrounded by a crew with disabilities, he felt -- for once -- that he was among people who were like him, and he was inspired by all that they were able to accomplish, both individually and as a team.
"We had to do everything on the ship, and for the first time I realised that there were people a lot worse off than me,'' he says. "On the voyage I realised that I had so much to be thankful for: a roof over my head (he lives in his own apartment near his mother and married brother), food in my stomach, a loving family, friends, my faith, and arms and legs that work. I saw that I wasn't so badly off after all''.
For all that he has achieved, however, Mr. Richardson says that while Bermuda's attitude towards amenities for the handicapped have improved greatly over the past five years, the Island still has a long way to go compared to North America, where the handicapped are treated as normally as anyone else.
He has also become very conscious of things which can pose a hazard to the handicapped, and does not hesitate to bring them to the attention of, for example, the Corporation of Hamilton.
They say that good things come in threes, so added to Mr. Richardson's good fortune in graduating from the Bermuda College and successfully crewing on a tall ship, he was recently hired by the Bermuda Telephone Company to work in its computer centre.
Meanwhile, he continues to enjoy his independence, which includes doing all his own shopping, housework and cooking. Admitting that he likes to stay active, and "does so many things'' apart from going to work, he currently volunteers every Saturday at the Bermuda Red Cross. Following on his tall ship experience, a friend is trying to get him involved in sailing again, and he corresponds with friends all over the world.
Asked if he had any special message for the Island's young riders, many of whom love to travel at excessive speeds and also pack race, he demurs. Instead his message to young people in general is: "If you really believe in what you are fighting for and it is good, then go after it. Keep working on your goals.
Whether it be today, tomorrow or in five years' time, just keep striving towards the end result.'' If every cloud has a silver lining, Mr. Richardson's is that his accident has taught him what is really important in life -- and it is not fancy cars, houses, trips, and other material trappings.
"I appreciate the small things like waking up each day,'' he says. "From the moment we are born our heart has been beating every day without us even thinking about it, and we should be thankful for that. We have air to breathe, and then there's the rain, the trees. Now that I am more limited in my movements it gives me time to stop and think about things.'' Meanwhile, reflecting on his personal struggle to come back, literally, from the brink of death, the grateful ex-cyclist says: "I couldn't have done it without the love of my family, their belief in Christ, and mine. My spirit keeps me humble and reminds me that I am just one of many. Live life the best you can and press on.'' Photos by Nigel Richardson All Together Now: Bermuda College graduate Mark Richardson (top picture, centre) is flanked by (from left) aunts Veronica Phillips, Roslyn Terry, Marion Tucker, and mother Madree Sampson. The four women are all sisters, and Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Sampson spent every day at the hospital following Mr.
Richardson's accident in 1986. Above, Mr. Richardson (second from right) waves farewell as he sets off on the tall ship Lord Nelson for the voyage of a lifetime to Boston, Massachusetts. He was one of three Bermudians invited to join the ship, which is especially equipped so that able-bodied and handicapped sailors enjoy equal status.
