From a very young age I have wanted to join the Army and fight for this country. It was put aside when I was 16 as I feared Call Of Duty had put a warped reality on the Forces life style. At the age of 16 I began, not knowingly at that point, a four year journey through chest surgery. This meant undergoing a 8 hour operation to dismantle and restructure my whole chest. This meant removing parts, breaking parts and replacing some with a titanium bar. Through the four years I was faced with multiple complications which ranged from the bar snapping to developing a pocket of air trapped between my lung and chest wall. This all ended when I was 20 with four operations under my belt, a few fancy scars and unknowingly to my self, a very closed mindset about what I could achieve. At the age of 23 I hit near enough rock bottom, having to leave my flat to move in with my parents, due to a false bravado I’d built for myself trying to over compensate and hide behind what I thought was a chink in my armour. I’d run out of money, energy and pretty much all hope for being anything but a pen pusher. I was convinced by my family to start working out. This rapidly changed my mind set, I put on muscle weight, gained energy and self belief. I started reading Ant Middletons “First Man In” which lite a light of self belief and worth in me that I hadn’t felt before, realising that one bump along the road doesn’t define the whole journey I started to look into a military life. Chase my 16 year old dream. I applied for a well fitting role for my experience and was accepted! I worked and grafted five days a week to fit the physical criteria’s, I hit them quickly. I then decided to aim for Para, I hit those goals. Two days after my 24th birthday I received a letter saying I was denied entry into The Armed Forces due to my surgery. This crushed me. With some support from a bald friend who is like a brother to me, I dusted my boots and appealed this. I even went to London to have my surgeon shove his pen in my ribs and make me cough! But it was then denied, again. With this dream gone, crushed and now removed from my mind I have slowly been dwindling, dragging my feet and have lost my reason why. I picked up Jason Foxes book, Battle Scars. After finishing this book, I returned home to my beautiful Girlfriend Megan and simply said “why should I let the surgery and the denied army define me? I wanted to join the army for adventure and to help people.” This is where we came up with this challenge. Just because I am not wearing the prestigious wing on a maroon beret doesn’t mean I can’t climb a mountain, support the troops fighting or who have fought with their life to protect us. These actions have not defined me, they have not stopped me, they have helped me realise who I am and how strong I am. Megan and I will concur The Welsh three peak challenge and The Yorkshire three peak challenge in 48 hours. We thank you for your time reading this even if no donation is made.
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The Welsh Three Peaks Challenge involves climbing Snowdon, Cadair Idris and Pen y Fan in the same day, either over 24 or 12 hours.