In 1988, Mark Dorrity went for a run on a 35-degree day in regional New South Wales. He was leading the race when severe heat stroke caused his body to shut down.

Mark spent 70 days unconscious in intensive care. He lost most of the muscle in his body, underwent a high-level leg amputation and was given little certainty about what life after hospital could look like.

But this is not simply a story about survival.

In this episode of ListenABLE, Mark joins Dylan Alcott and Angus O’Loughlin to share how he rebuilt his life from the ground up. From learning to stand again, returning to full-time work and confronting inaccessible public spaces, to retraining his brain through Toastmasters decades later, Mark’s story is a powerful lesson in resilience, neuroplasticity and choosing to keep moving forward.

Mark also reflects on how far disability access and inclusion have come in Australia since the late 1980s, why accessible parking matters far more than people realise, and why he refuses to live with regret.

• What happened when Mark collapsed from severe heat stroke during an eight-kilometre race

• Waking up in intensive care 70 days later

• The moment Mark learned his leg had been amputated

• Rebuilding strength after losing most of his muscle mass

• Returning to work after a life-changing injury

• Living with a high-level amputation and why a prosthesis was not sustainable for Mark

• How disability access and inclusion have changed since the late 1980s

• The reality behind accessible parking and public spaces

• Neuroplasticity, Toastmasters and retraining the brain later in life

• Why resilience is not about avoiding difficulty, but choosing to keep showing up

  
  

00:00 The moment Mark’s life changed
01:31 A race, extreme heat and collapsing near the finish line
04:35 Waking up 70 days later in intensive care
07:14 The decision to amputate or let Mark die
09:48 Accepting a new reality immediately
11:10 Learning how to live again after intensive care
13:06 Seeing his story on the front page of the newspaper
14:55 Why a wheelchair was not practical for Mark
16:39 The first time using a walking frame in public
18:11 Where Mark’s resilience came from
19:02 What disability access was like in Australia in the late 1980s
21:42 How Mark views disability today
24:59 Prosthetics, pain and adapting to life without one
27:05 Returning to full-time work
27:46 Cognitive recovery, speech and Toastmasters
30:20 Neuroplasticity and retraining the brain
32:08 Seeing his body after amputation
33:25 Would Mark warn himself before the race?
34:50 Mark’s message on risk, resilience and living fully

Mark Dorrity, heat stroke survivor, amputation recovery, high-level amputation, disability podcast Australia, disability inclusion, accessibility Australia, neuroplasticity, resilience story, life after amputation, Dylan Alcott podcast, ListenABLE podcast, disability advocacy, rehabilitation journey, Toastmasters recovery