- Title: Paraplegic adventurer to sit-ski across South Pole for spinal injury cure
- Date: 22nd January 2024
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 18, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ADVENTURER WHO IS PARALYSED FROM CHEST DOWN, DARREN EDWARDS, SAYING: “So the way that the expedition will look on a day-to-day basis is probably very Groundhog Day. Every day is going to look the same except for that we will be a little bit closer to the pole. So, we're going to be skiing fo
- Embargoed: 5th February 2024 16:27
- Keywords: CHALLENGE DARREN EDWARDS DISABLED RECORD ATTEMPT SIT-SKI SOUTH POLE SPINAL CORD INJURY WINGS FOR LIFE
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Various
- Topics: Human-Led Feature,Human-Led Stories
- Reuters ID: LVA004339518012024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:A wheelchair-bound adventurer on Thursday (January 18) unveiled an upcoming world record attempt to sit-ski across the South Pole, all in aid of vital research into a cure for spinal cord injuries.
British adventurer Darren Edwards, who was left paralysed from the chest down in 2016 after a rock climbing accident in North Wales, will attempt to travel a distance of 333 kilometres (207 miles) during the expedition in December 2024.
Edwards will use an adapted skiing device, a sit-ski, which features specially designed crutches attached to the rider’s hands, relying on the upper body, shoulders and arms to create movement.
At an event in London to launch his expedition, Edwards told Reuters that the South Pole is somewhere he’s always wanted to go to after reading about the explorations of British Navy Captain Robert Scott.
“I kind of was given the opportunity to come up with the idea, to come up with a distance that would be ground-breaking for somebody with a spinal cord injury, that would be ground-breaking for somebody that has to use a sit-ski, that can't traditionally ski, and at the time the furthest distance that had been done was 111 kilometres (60 miles),” he told Reuters.
During the expedition, Edwards and his two able-bodied team members will trek through the snow and ice for up to 12 hours each day, lugging behind them 80 kilograms of equipment before setting up camp each night in the freezing landscape.
“Obviously I'm relying entirely on my shoulders and my arms to do the hard work but there's the risk of frostbite, there’s a risk of cold weather injuries that I may not know I'm developing because of my impaired sense of feeling,” he told Reuters.
Edwards hopes his expedition will raise £300,000 (USD 381,119) from public donations, in aid of spinal cord injury foundation Wings For Life who are researching treatments for life-changing paralysis.
The fundraising goal of 300,000 is also the estimated number of people who suffer a spinal cord injury worldwide each year.
The adventurer is optimistic that a cure for the injury is on the horizon, telling Reuters that he hopes through further research, those who have this injury in the future can “go back to the life that they had.”
Wings For Life UK CEO Emma Hinds told Reuters that the foundation is on the “right track” to discovering a treatment, adding that some spinal cord injury sufferers have even regained the ability to walk again, after years of cutting-edge research.
Following his paralysis, Edwards has completed several daring expeditions, including a sit-ski trek across Europe’s biggest ice cap and a kayaking voyage the length of Britain.
In 2022, he became the first person in a wheelchair to complete the World Marathon Challenge when he finished seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.
Edwards ultimately hopes that his upcoming record attempt will inspire not only people with injuries like his, but also anyone going through a challenging period in their lives.
(Production: Sophie Royle) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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