Mark Ideson

Mark Ideson
Curler
Ideson in 2018
Born	(1976-04-10) April 10, 1976 Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada
Paralympic appearances	4 (2014, 2018, 2022, 2026)
Medal record Wheelchair curling Representing Canada Paralympic Games 2014 Sochi Mixed team 2026 Milano Cortina Mixed team 2018 PyeongChang Mixed team 2022 Beijing Mixed team World Championships 2013 Sochi Mixed team 2020 Wetzikon Mixed team 2023 Richmond Mixed team 2024 Gangneung Mixed Team

Mark Ideson (born April 10, 1976, in Parry Sound, Ontario) is a Canadian wheelchair curler who competed in the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi and won gold. He is married and has two children. He now resides in London, Ontario. In 2007, the helicopter he was piloting crashed into a field near Cambridge, Ontario, causing injuries that resulted in quadriplegia. He played hockey and golf before he was disabled.

Personal

Ideson is married and has two children, a daughter, Brooklyn, and a son, Myles. He went to the University of Western Ontario. He studied Environmental Science there, where he met his future wife, Lara. He was also a former Western Mustangs Cheerleader. After graduating university, he became a helicopter pilot and was introduced to wheelchair curling in 2010 at the age of 33.

Accident

In 2007, during a maintenance flight, his helicopter crashed into a field near Cambridge, Ontario. He broke 29 bones during the crash. 500 metres away, Daniel Hermann, an eight-year-old boy saw this and went to his mother to call 9-1-1. An ambulance arrived within 20 minutes. In 2014, Ideson said "I had rehearsed for seven years what I was going to say to a kid that essentially saved my life. I could never really put it to words."

External links

• Mark Ideson at World Curling
• Mark Ideson at the International Paralympic Committee
• Mark Ideson at the Canadian Paralympic Committee
• Mark Ideson at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics (archived)
• Mark Ideson on Facebook