Escaping Parkinson's
1 STRAITJACKET. 2 WEEKS. 4 PARKINSON'S.
“Team Fox members have always brought a certain amount of magic to their events, but Escaping Parkinson’s takes it to another level. Our Foundation is grateful for Mark Correia’s creativity and sheer lunacy in helping bring us one step closer to a cure.”
- Michael J. Fox
At age eighteen Mark Correia set a World Record for longest time strapped inside a straitjacket. He was featured on every Canadian broadcasting network and received international acclaim with total viewership estimated at 31 million people worldwide. On the fourteenth day of the stunt, Mark escaped from the straitjacket on live television. Over $15,000 was raised for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and Michael J. Fox himself publicly supported the stunt, and keeps in touch with Mark today. During the stunt, Mark filmed video blogs to keep the public updated on his progress, and fans were invited to send in suggestions of tasks they wanted to see Mark accomplish while strapped into the jacket. Though Mark works as a professional magician, this stunt involved no tricks or breaks – it was all very real and Mark has the scars to prove it.
Mark continues his charity work with The Michael J. Fox Foundation today, and is one of the founders of the Team Fox Young Professionals of Toronto. He is currently producing a documentary based on the stunt called "Two Weeks Strait" as well as an autobiographical book under the same title. He will speak publicly about the experience of the first time, during a TEDx talk in 2017.