In the ultimate test of endurance and courage, two wounded serviceman will embark on a four-week trek to the Arctic, making history as the first amputees ever to have reached the North Pole.
The brave challenge has been organized by British charity, Walking With The Wounded and was launched on Friday with the help of the charity’s patron, Prince Harry. As the BBC reports, the trek will take place next spring and will see two servicemen who lost limbs in the line of duty, battling temperatures of -122 degrees Fahrenheit to travel from Siberia across the frozen Arctic Ocean, hauling heavy sleds over 480km of tough terrain. The funds raised will be used to rehabilitate wounded soldiers, sailors and airmen, financing further education and enabling them to integrate back into civilian life.
Expedition leader Edward Parker said: “These guys have such extraordinary courage and determination … we felt doing something extraordinary like this would show these guys are extraordinary people.” While the list of possible candidates are still being whittled down, one of the four finalists, Rob Copsey (who lost his leg in an anti-personnel mine during a mission in Rwanda in 1994) said he hopes to be part of the fundraising mission. “I set myself a challenge early on after losing my leg,” he said, adding: “I wanted to prove to my friends and family that I was ok.”
Prince Harry, who is currently training to become a pilot with the Army Air Corps and who has served in Afghanistan said of the charity project: “I am so proud to be Patron of Walking with The Wounded. This polar adventure will exemplify the tenacity and remarkable courage of those who serve in uniform,” and the young royal asked the public to get behind the mission wholeheartedly. “I salute the team walking to the North Pole and I urge everyone to support them,” he said in a statement.
HRH, we couldn’t agree more.
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Photo by U.S. Coast Guard via Flickr.