WINTER sports star Mark Brown has won a gold medal on the slopes of Switzerland.
But the man competing in the 2012 Winter World Transplant Games also came back with some unwanted souvenirs: two black eyes, a bruised forehead and a split lip.
Mark slipped on the ice while brushing in the curling contest, smashing his face on the ground, but he still managed to help steer Great Britain “A” to the gold medal.
Mark, 45, who was brought up in Lindley, was competing in the games 18 years after undergoing a successful kidney transplant.
He was diagnosed with Alports Syndrome as a young man growing up in Lindley.
The former Lindley Junior School pupil and Salendine Nook student had treatment for the hereditary disease at St James’s Hospital in Leeds for several years, including dialysis, before undergoing the transplant in April 1994.
He is now a “veteran” of the Winter Games, having competed previously in competitions in the United States, Italy and Switzerland.
He was delighted with his medal in the curling, but less impressed with his efforts on the ski and snowboard slopes.
“I had taken part in curling before but this was a serious competition this year on the rink.
“We beat Germany and France in the early rounds and were then matched with Great Britain B for the gold medal.
“It was a tough, hard match against our comrades but we came out on top.
“Unfortunately, I slipped while brushing. My feet went backwards on the ice and my weight went forward, and I crashlanded face first.
“I ended up with a split lip, a bruised nose and forehead and two lovely black eyes.
“But it was okay in the end. It was certainly better that the ski tests. The course was very icy and I’m afraid I took it too steadily, finishing towards the tail end in all my sports.
“I decided they didn’t really want a body on the slopes.”
Mark, a father of two, campaigns for organ donors and was supported by the St James’s Kidney Patient Association.
