Wounded soldiers return to UK after unaided walk to North Pole
Saturday 23 April 2011 2:32 PM
A team of wounded soldiers who trekked to the North Pole have returned home to the UK.
The four soldiers, together with the two co-founders of the Walking With The Wounded charity and their expedition leader made history by reaching their goal in just 13 days after a 170-mile trek completely unaided.
The group had expected their trek to take up to four weeks, so they completed the feat twice as quickly as they had planned.
Harry, the patron of Walking With The Wounded, added: "The spirit and determination of these lads is second to none. They are true role models."
All four men sustained their life-changing injuries while fighting in Afghanistan.
Capt Martin Hewitt, 30, from Widnes in Cheshire, was left with a paralysed right arm after being shot and Capt Guy Disney, 29, from Oxford, had his right leg amputated below the knee after he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).
Sgt Stephen Young, 28, from Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, suffered a broken back after his vehicle was blown up by an improvised explosive device (IED), and Pte Jaco Van Gass, 24, from South Africa, had his left arm amputated and was left with significant tissue loss to his left leg when he too was hit by an RPG.
Simon Daglish, 45, and Ed Parker, also 45, the co-founders of the charity which aims to raise £2 million for other injured servicemen and women, completed the group led by Inge Solheim, 38, a polar expert.
During their trek to the top of the world they braved temperatures as low as minus 40C, crossed patches of freezing Arctic Ocean and were on the constant look-out for polar bears
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