~ Field Notes ~
What it's like to walk the London marathon carrying a 100-lb backpack, to set a world record
So it just happened. The idea. It kept on coming back to me, over and over again. Like I could just reach out and touch it. If he could carry an 80-lb. pack for 26.2 miles – then maybe I could do it with a 100-lb. (45.36kg) pack. I was surprised no-one had ever done it – I've had one or two podium places in low level Taekwondo competitions, but nothing quite on this scale. Nothing that would put me the best at something in the entire world!
It's daunting when you say it out loud: The; Entire; World.
Recovering from a big injury: how you can help someone move forward in a better way
Being independent and active is a large part of my identity and purpose.
Of all the injuries, the most complicated has been the compound fracture to my leg. Initially I had a couple of surgeries and rod inserted into it, pinning the shattered part together. This stabilised the leg, and after a month, I was starting to get back on my feet with the aid of a wheelchair. Being able to get out of bed was a real game changer: It meant I could go to the toilet, move around and not have to constantly rely on help from others. It meant being able to wash and brush my teeth instead of having a flannel bath in bed.
Traversing the nadir: 2 years on from catastrophic injury
Ever since I almost died on the Matterhorn two years ago, my approach to physical risk has changed.
As a young man, I had an entirely different risk appetite to what I do now. High risk adventure sports – like mountaineering, climbing, racing mountain bikes down hills, skydiving and riding motorbikes were a regular part of my life before a big fall that also finished me.
Now, my appetite to take the same risks has been sated, but for how long – I don’t know for certain. I still dream of big mountains and that feeling of elation when you’re stood on a summit after months of planning and the hours spent plodding uphill.
Relearning to paddle my own canoe: Regaining independence after a complex injury.
One of the hardest things I experienced during my recovery from a mountaineering injury, was to be physically and spiritually supported by my partner, family and friends.
I was in a wheelchair when I first left hospital. My partner had to push me around when I wasn’t strong enough to go more than a few metres on the crutches. Whilst I had completed ultramarathons like the Marathon des Sables the previous year; my fitness had utterly deteriorated from the 3 months in a hospital bed – so I had to rely on her to help in almost all daily activities.
Bending and straightening: what life’s like four months after the accident.
It is four months since the accident, and I’ve been out of hospital for a few weeks. Christmas would usually be spent driving hundreds of miles to the north to see my family however I choose not to struggle with the British rail service.
The effort it would take to get across London from the south coast (itself already experiencing difficulties from flooding) and then many more hours on the trains just seems beyond me at this stage – so my girlfriend and I settle for a quiet one at home watching Netflix and drinking too much tea.
It takes me many days to overcome the feeling that I’m letting people down, but I get reassured that I’m not.
Knocking on the door of ‘Rose Cottage’
In September 2019, my tiptoeing the tightrope between life and death went the wrong way. After trying to summit the Matterhorn mountain in Italy, I slipped and tumbled a long way down.