Paralysed adventurer from Shrewsbury to attempt world record Antarctic sit-ski challenge for charity
An explorer from Shrewsbury who is paralysed from the chest down is preparing to attempt a new world record on a polar expedition in Antarctica next month.
Darren Edwards will attempt to complete the longest sit-ski expedition in history to raise funds to help find a cure for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).
The Shrewsbury resident plans to sit-ski 222 kilometres in just 20 days this December, in temperatures that could drop to minus 30C.
Currently, the furthest distance travelled by a sit-ski to reach the South Pole is 111 kilometres.
Darren will be supported by a team of adventurers including British explorer Lucy Shepherd, Chief Scout Dwayne Fields and film maker Matthew Biggar. As well as attempting to break a world record, he hopes to break down barriers and challenge perceptions of disability.
He is aiming to raise £100,000 for the charity Wings for Life, which funds research and clinical trials worldwide in the search for a cure for SCI.
The mission would be challenging for anyone, but particularly for someone with a high-level spinal cord injury. The team will be unsupported, skiing throughout the day and camping at night while facing the risks of extreme cold, altitude sickness, exhaustion and hazardous terrain including sastrugi, high winds, snowstorms and crevasses.
In a social media post thanking filmmaker Matthew for his support, Darren wrote: "Making an expedition to Antarctica and the South Pole has been, even before setting foot on the ice, the single hardest undertaking of my adventure career.
"By the time we board our flights from the UK to Chile, and then Antarctica, it will have been a two-year journey of overcoming setbacks, delays, and moments of self-doubt thinking 'will this ever happen?'
"Yet, through all these challenges, I’ve had the unconditional support and creative talent of Matthew behind me. Matthew’s role in my expedition is a reminder that, when we attempt to redefine 'impossible', it can’t be done on our own - no matter how determined or resilient we may be, it’s friendship and camaraderie that makes the impossible possible."
Darren, then aged 26 and a former mountaineer and Army Reservist, sustained a life-changing injury sustained a life-changing injury on August 6, 2016.
While rock climbing in North Wales, a section of rock unexpectedly shifted beneath him, sending him tumbling towards his climbing partner 100ft below. He survived, but the accident left him instantly paralysed from the chest down.
Since then, Darren has channelled his determination into a remarkable series of adventures and achievements. He has trained with Great Britain’s paracanoe team, pioneered adaptive freediving, and in June 2021 became the first person with an SCI to kayak from Land’s End to John o’ Groats - more than 1,400 kilometres - leading a team of five injured and wounded veterans.
In May 2022, he became the first adaptive adventurer to lead a crew of six across the English Channel in aid of suicide prevention charities, in memory of his father who died in September 2021.
Later that year, in October 2022, he became the first person to complete the World Marathon Challenge using a wheelchair, completing seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.
Most recently, in April 2023, he was part of the first adaptive team to cross Europe’s largest ice cap, Vatnajökull in Iceland, completing the journey in 11 days.
Darren is currently in intensive training as he prepares for his attempted record-breaking mission.
There are an estimated 50,000 people in the UK living with a spinal cord injury. Since being founded in 2004, Wings for Life has funded more than 270 research projects worldwide, including six major clinical trials.
You can support his fundraiser here.
