STROKE survivor Jonny Huntington has reached a major milestone in his epic expedition to be the first disabled person to sit ski solo to the South Pole.
After completing a gruelling 330km in 20 in days, Jonny has now turned at Theil’s Corner, one of two key navigational bearing changes he will make on his way to the Pole.
Getting to this point has been a monumental effort for Jonny who is undertaking this 911km expedition with a significant lack of mobility and control down his left-hand side, following a stroke in 2014.
So far he has battled freezing arctic temperatures, blistering 24-hour sunlight, huge ice formations called sastrugi, and soft snow making progress challenging.
Speaking the day before he reached Theil’s Corner, he said: “It has been a pretty tough day today, probably the toughest so far with about 20km done, but it took nine hours and 50 minutes, so it was slow-going and uphill and generally a hard day on the feet.”
Arriving at the landmark point, he said: “I am taking a bit of a rest day tomorrow, but I am still going to do 10km and go straight past Theil’s and on to the next leg, which is about 275km’s to the next waypoint.
“I am feeling decent and even had some music on earlier this morning and was really getting in the groove, so I’m all good and looking forward to a bit of a rest tomorrow and hitting the rest of this journey.”
At just 28 years old, a stroke in 2014 left Jonny with complete left-side paralysis. After years intense rehab, he now lives with permanent brain damage resulting in a significant lack of strength, mobility and control down his left side.
Jonny is raising money for four charities including the Invictus Games Foundation, Armed Forces Para-Snowsport Team, Team Forces and The Adaptive Grand Slam Foundation.
To donate, visit https://givestar.io/gs/south-pole-solo-expedition
- Jonny was born in Cambridge, where he lived until he went to university at 18-years-old and subsequently joined the military. He now lives in Kingsbridge, Devon.
@jonnyhuntington on Instagram and LinkedIn
