A regular person who did an extraordinary thing.

Mark was born to teenage parents who struggled to make ends meet. By three, his parents were divorced. By third grade, his mother had remarried. It wasn't until he was 33 — married with two children — that he lived in the same home for more than two years. Being nerdy, chubby, and always moving, Mark was frequently bullied — which left him with little-to-no confidence in himself.

At 14, he was named Captain of his travel hockey team, and something shifted. Hockey gave him the confidence he lacked in the real world and taught him lessons of grit, determination, discipline, resiliency, willpower, consistency, and leadership. Lessons he still lives by today.

In the corporate world, Mark rose to Associate Director at a major corporation, responsible for over $50M in annual revenue. The road was rarely easy. He preferred it that way — because he believes you don't get better with easy.

In 2018, the diagnosis arrived: Polycystic Kidney Disease. The same disease that had claimed his Nana's life 18 months after her transplant, and had sent his mother to dialysis for over ten years before hers. Mark was determined to break the generational cycle.

By being proactive, he received his transplant just two months before turning 47 — the milestone age PKD had taken his family before him. To celebrate, he ran the 2024 Las Vegas Marathon, 356 days post-transplant. No prior race experience. No shortcuts. Just vision, discipline, and relentless resilience.