Shrewsbury disabled adventurer to take on South Pole World Record Challenge
Shrewsbury adaptive athlete and disabled adventurer Darren Edwards is aiming to become the world’s first disabled adventurer to complete the longest sit-ski expedition in the history of polar exploration.
Darren will attempt to ski 333km across the Antarctic in just 20 days in minus-20-degree temperatures this December.
Paralysed from the chest down from a climbing accident in 2016, the South Pole Challenge will see the 32-year-old Shrewsbury local operating at the absolute limit of what is possible for someone with a high-level Spinal Cord Injury.
Fewer people have visited the South Pole than have summited Everest and this will be a huge undertaking for the wheelchair-bound adventurer.
Starting at 87° South and ending at 90° South, the Geographical South Pole, Darren will be supported by a team made up of three friends, including Matt Luxton the man who saved Darren’s life on the day of his life-changing climbing accident in 2016 and Bear Grylls’ right-hand woman, Megan Hine.
Antarctica is a dangerous place for anyone, let alone someone with a high-level Spinal Cord Injury. Working together, the team will face the risk of extreme temperatures, altitude sickness, exhaustion, and adverse environmental conditions including sastrugi, high winds, snowstorms, and crevasses.
In addition to changing perceptions of disability, the purpose behind Darren Edwards’ South Pole Challenge is to raise £300,000 for the charity ‘Wings for Life’ which seeks to find a cure for Spinal Cord Injury, and funds research and clinical trials globally – with astonishing results.
Darren already has several world record challenges to his name as the world’s first disabled athlete to complete the World Marathon Challenge – 7 Marathons in 7 Days across 7 Continents, the world’s first adaptive athlete to kayak the length of the UK and a member of the world’s first all-disabled team to ski across Europe’s largest Ice Cap, Vatnajokull in Iceland.
