On the 23rd July 2011 whilst on holiday in Spain I broke my neck in an all too common accident, whilst diving into a swimming pool. I underwent 2 operations in order to save my function and ultimately my life, repairing the fractured dislocation of my c4/c5 vertebrae.

After my first surgery I was airlifted to Stoke Mandeville, a spinal specialist hospital in Buckinghamshire. Following a second operation there, I then stayed at the hospital for five months of physiotherapy and rehabilitation. For the first month I lay, quadriplegic, on my back in ICU with only very limited movement on my left side. Despite the bleak prognosis, through hard work, determination and a great deal of support bit by bit my body began to return to me and I left on crutches that Winter.

I have since spent 1000's of hours in recovery - hospitals, physiotherapy, biokineticists, gyms, always working on regaining more and more movement and functionality. Although progress is at times slow I still feel progress 10 years on. This month I managed to run 5km, watch out Usain!

In 2016 Ed Jackson suffered a very similar injury  and a few years on he formed his own charity, the M2M Foundation, raising money to help people in a similar situation to us. M2M stands for Millimetres to Mountains, describing his journey from moving his big toe 1 millimetre, to now scaling mountains to help those in similar situations, a story which resonates strongly with me (I can remember the first time I was able to move my right thumb a millimetre). 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 areas we will be trekking ~100km in 5 days surrounded by arctic birch forests, giant glaciers, dramatic waterfalls and towering volcanoes 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, a 15 hour trek up & down Iceland's highest peak Hvannadalshnukur (2110m) which also happens to be an active volcano! This climb coincidentally will be 10 years to the day since my injury and show me how far I've come.

I am very grateful for your support and can't wait to take on this challenge! 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.

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

Thank you!

Ruari

Thanks for making me hit my first target of £3,000, and only in a week! Target raised to £4,000 :)