10 years ago, one of my best friends Ruari broke his neck whilst on holiday in Spain when diving into a swimming pool. He underwent 2 operations to repair the fractured dislocation of his c4/c5 vertebrae.

After his first surgery he was airlifted to Stoke Mandeville, a spinal specialist hospital in Buckinghamshire. Following a second operation there, he remained in hospital for five months of physiotherapy and rehabilitation. For the first month he lay, quadriplegic, on his back only in ICU with only very limited movement on one side only. Despite the bleak prognosis, through hard work, determination and a great deal of support, his function improved and he left on crutches that Winter.

He has since spent 1000's of hours in recovery - hospitals, physiotherapy, biokineticists, gyms, always working on regaining more and more movement and functionality. 

In 2016 Ed Jackson suffered a very similar injury to Ruari's and a few years on he formed his own charity, the M2M Foundation, raising money to help people in a similar situation. M2M stands for Millimetres to Mountains, describing his journey from moving his big toe 1 millimetre, to now scaling mountains. The charity organises treks & events to raise money for the great causes that helped him and many others when they most needed it.

Heading to one of Iceland's most remote area, I will join Ruari and a group of others to trek around 100km over 5 days, whilst each night camping in locations far away from any civilisation. After 5 days we will reach the Skaftafell National Park where we will take on our biggest test, Iceland's highest peak Hvannadalshnukur (2110m), which also happens to be an active volcano! 

The money raised from this challenge will go towards building a spinal cord injury centre in Nepal a country with a high prevalence of these injuries, and very little support for those suffering with the effects. It will also go towards supporting people in need back home and giving those people the opportunity to experience these life changing expeditions themselves through beneficiary places. Even the smallest donation goes a long way.

You can find more information on M2M and the work they do here:  https://millimetres2mountains.org/our-story/

Thanks

Anna