Disabled adventurer 'gutted' to ditch South Pole bid
Enda BradyA disabled adventurer from Shropshire has said he is "gutted" to have made the decision to abandon his world record attempt in the Antarctic.
Darren Edwards, from Shrewsbury, who is paralysed from the chest down, hoped to reach the South Pole and break a record for the longest-ever sit-ski expedition by a disabled person.
In a video posted to his Facebook page in the early hours of Thursday morning, he told his followers: "I am so sorry to have let you down.
"We're not going to reach the South Pole, the distances we're doing each day, the amount of hours we're out each day, the terrain that we're challenging and trying to get through each day is so incredibly tough."
He described it as the "toughest physical and mental thing I've ever done".
"The snow is like sandpaper, so every push of my poles get me maybe six inches further forward, and we are down to temperatures of minus 40," he added.
'It really hurts'
The challenge would have seen him cover cover 137 miles (222km) over a period of 20 days.
The current record for the longest sit-ski to the South Pole stands at almost 69 miles (111km).
He was raising funds for charity Wings for Life, which is researching cures for spinal cord injuries.
"The reality is that we're not reaching the Pole in time, we don't have the rations, we can't afford the resupply," he said.
"We could continue, we could plan ahead as a four, carrying injuries, we could go until we ran out of food - but I don't see the success in that, I actually think the success was starting in the first place.
"The reality is, we're not covering enough distance each day, we're far to slow to reach the Pole in time, and that hurts, really hurts and I feel like I've let a lot of people down."
Former mountaineer and army reservist Mr Edwards was paralysed in 2016 at the age of 26 after a rock climbing accident.
Since then, he has been part of the first disabled team to cross Europe's largest ice cap, Vatnajokull in Iceland, and undertaken seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.
He has also led a rowing crew across the English Channel and kayaked from Land's End to John O'Groats.
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