Business travellersknow how exhausting travelling can be, but one man set out to highlight how difficult even everyday activities can be for disabled people ? and it took him all the way to the South Pole.
In 1983, Michael McGrath was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a muscle-wasting condition that severely reduces his ability to walk. Since then, he has launched his own charity (see below) and campaigns tirelessly to change the way employers view people with disabilities. His most recent challenge was walking to Antarctic Base Camp on January 1 this year, making him the first disabled person in the world to conquer both poles.
So, why the North and South Poles? Put simply, Michael wants to show that although it can be possible for the disabled to achieve access to the most remote parts of the world, normal daily activities are still prohibitively difficult. Bert Massie, chairman of the Disability Rights Commission, says: "Michael McGrath's expedition to the South Pole has shown that while there are many buildings whose architecture effectively excludes disabled people from using them, it is also possible for disabled people to reach some of the most inaccessible places on earth."
Slowly, things are changing, thanks partly to the dedication of people like Michael. Phase III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 came into effect on October 1, requiring companies to take "reasonable" action to give disabled people better access to workplaces, and Michael hopes companies will tap into the huge resource of people among the disabled community who are keen to work. Says Michael: "In valuing difference, disabled people want to be overwhelmed by ordinariness. Disability to many organisations still means can't do, rather than can do."
There are about 10 million disabled people in the UK, including 5.1 million people of working age. Half of these are out of work, despite the fact that most would like to work. According to Michael, people with disabilities add either no cost or very little cost to the business, with only 7% confined to a wheelchair and 4% requiring additional aids in the workplace. And for those who do, the average cost to an organisation is only about £185.
Michael's polar trips were gruelling undertakings, requiring self-belief and dogged resolve. "I have never worked so hard in my life," he recalls. Antarctica is the highest, coldest and windiest continent and the South Pole is 9,300ft above sea level, making altitude sickness another hurdle. But Michael was armed with the words of another great explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton, who wrote in his diary during his own Antarctic expedition: "difficulties are just things to overcome".
Michael is keen to point out that he didn't achieve these things alone. Patronage and endorsements came from Kenneth Branagh, Alexandra Shackleton, (granddaughter of Sir Ernest Shackleton), the Duchess of York, Michael Palin, Jon Snow and Tanni Grey Thompson (Britain's best known Paralympic athlete). Help also came from DHL, Virgin Atlantic, Hilton UK & Ireland, the European Commission in Brussels, the UK Minister for Disabled People, and Oxford Brookes University.
Michael's team left Heathrow on New Year's Day for Miami, then, after a stopover in Santiago, flew with Lan Chile (provided by Business Traveller) to Punta Arenas in Chile. After waiting for the weather to clear, the team boarded a 25-year-old Russian cargo plane. Four-and-a-half hours later, they landed ? just. "The pilots had just six seconds, after coming out of low cloud, to decide whether to abort the landing," says Michael. "It is an extremely high-risk manoeuvre because the runway is just blue
ice and we were coming at it from the wrong angle. The aircraft must carry extra fuel in case it can't land and has to return.
The Russian pilots, thankfully, managed to make the right attitudinal adjustments to the aircraft on its final approach."
After this dramatic beginning, the expedition continued without a hitch. After 14 days on the ice, Michael was towed the last 5km in a special sledge before walking the final 310m to the pole. One exhausting month later, the team touched down safely in London.
Despite having lost nearly 65% of his muscle bulk, Michael is by no means feeling defeated. Already a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, he has also been appointed disABILITY Champion by Hilton UK & Ireland in February 2004, to advance the understanding of the needs of disabled guests. "The two most important things I've learnt are that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be, and that the most difficult part of any endeavour is taking that first step. Accepted wisdom states that nothing focuses the mind more than fear. But I know that nothing focuses the mind more than a lack of time. I have much to do."
The Muscle Help Foundation
Michael launched The Muscle Help Foundation in March 2003, with his friend, business partner and fellow pole2pole team member, Miles Peckham. The foundation is a
not-for-profit organisation whose ultimate vision is to see a world free of muscle disorders. The foundation believes the surest route to developing therapies
for muscle disorders is the commitment to funding research to harness the collective energy of scientists with the interdisciplinary knowledge and willingness to act
in concert toward a common goal. For further information, visit: www.musclehelp.com.
