The last step I ever took was on the 24th of April, 2004 as I pushed away from a rockface to begin an abseil descent.
Between then and now I’ve spent my life trying to create a synergy between being paralysed from the waist down and an indefatigable desire for freedom and adventure. It’s now been seven years since I was winched into a rescue helicopter from the base of that rockface, close to death after losing a rather one-sided argument with gravity. In that time I’ve travelled the world in a wheelchair, enjoying adventures and exploits from mountain peaks to ocean floors and everywhere inbetween, to forge a path past the expected mundane life of someone in a wheelchair and to experience the thrill of freedom wherever I can.
At 17, with no real aim in life or anything better to do, I joined the British Army. It opened my eyes to the world and the amazing possibilities it holds. I also discovered the benefits of confidence, determination and self-reliance through the unique challenges and high adventure which only military service can provide, and I loved every minute of it. 12 years later what started as a whim was a successful career which fed my ambition for adventure. The knowledge, experience and skills gained from years of soldiering, leading and instructing in some of the most demanding environments in the world and my desire for adventure surely meant doing anything else would pale in comparison. The thought never crossed my mind.
So in 2004, when the rocks and ground rushed up to meet me as I fell from high above them, the crushing impact went much further than simply breaking my bones.
I landed and was immediately paralysed, and in that rather impressive fall from grace I lost the use of my legs and my career, but kept my life and my ambition.
I decided the best way to adapt to this new life in a wheelchair was to rely on the same determination and self reliance that had served me so well in the past, setting off to explore the world on my own to discover what was possible and to test my new limitations. I learned to ski, sitting down. I learned to paraglide, kayak, mountain bike, SCUBA dive and even rock climb without the use of my legs. I searched out challenges that allowed me to escape the ugly concrete and urban environments best suited to a wheelchair wherever I could, feeding my desire for adventure and exploration.
The more I tasted freedom the greater my appetite became and I realised the only way to ensure something’s impossible is to not try, to accept failure and physically stop. Stubbornness and a healthy dose of rebellion got me almost everywhere I wanted to be, and to places I’d never thought possible before.
Since my injury expeditions have taken me from Alaska to Africa, from India’s Spiti Valley to the peaks of Colorado and from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to the forests of Croatia. I’ve soared over Southern African plains and kayaked for weeks on end through the Scottish Islands. I have made sitski first descents of mountains only accessible by helicopter and explored the world with eyes wide from wonder, curiosity and amazement. I’ve been at my most excited when scouring books and maps, wondering how to make a particular exploit physically possible and feeling the first addictive taste of a challenge. I’ve become an evangelist for the unique satisfaction and profound fulfillment reached only by searching out and overcoming challenges, an advocate for the thrill of life and all the possibilities it holds.
What started as a selfish desire to go out and have fun has grown into a self-imposed obligation to help convince others that ignoring the nagging fears of failure or insecurity and taking a risk upon their ambition is always a worthwhile effort. Through my actions I work to promote the benefits of straying as far from concrete as physically possible for everyone, and I feel strongly about making that goal more achievable for disabled people by forming a charity to provide adaptive sporting equipment.
More than anything these past seven years have left me with the realisation of how lucky I am, through both the accident of birth and the privilege of opportunity, to enjoy basic independence (nevermind the luxury of travel and adventure). That freedom is something denied to millions of disabled people around the world, especially in developing countries where 75% of those who experience a spinal cord injury similar to mine will die within 18 months from easily preventable secondary complications. I’m passionate about helping to provide equipment, care and training to in-country programs around the world that help disabled people.
I believe that what pulls me out from a crowd is my ability to inspire and motivate others by sharing my unique exploits and adventures as a writer, photographer and speaker. My enthusiasm for life, travel and adventure and my striving to fulfil personal potential by embracing a world of possibilities will take any audience there with me, leaving them fully aware of, and excited by, their own potential and exposing the frailty of the mental barriers or excuses they place in the way of their own ambitions.
My next adventure is different than anything before it. It’s purpose is simple; to travel 30,000 miles around the world in a wheelchair, to raise money to provide disabled people with equipment to live and explore. It’s hugely complicated in that the world’s not designed for wheelchairs. To cross the many obstacles along the way I’ll need to use different techniques and equipment, and to rely on my determination and stubbornness more than ever. It’s a high-budget, technically challenging expedition that requires all the skills and knowledge I’ve learned over the last seven years. I’ll be forced to improvise and adapt to overcome new obstacles all along my path that no amount of planning can prepare for. I’m excited because it’s different, a huge challenge that will take me to new places, physically and mentally.
As with life, the world’s set out in front of me and the challenge is keep going no matter how slowly, to not stop.