Meet Jay

I’m a 38-year-old father of 2. In 2018 I Suffered a severe spinal cord injury in a helicopter crash. The accident was a result of gross negligence from both the helicopter company and also the pilot. It was too crushing to even begin to think what life would begin to look like being in a wheelchair, so accepting a diagnosis of never walking again was something I just could not comprehend.

After years and years of painstaking rehab I was able to rebuild my nervous system and regain partial function of my legs (hips/quads and weak glutes). Motivated to really see how far I could push myself to get back out in nature, I learnt how to walk again, with the aid of crutches and walking braces. During that time I started to dream of big things. Where would I take this newfound mobility? How could I use it to inspire others in a similar predicament? Everest base camp was the most difficult thing I could think of. Given my physical limitations I set about figuring out how to walk for distances longer than 1km and had to learn how to get myself up steps and difficult terrain. Here I am 3 years later, looking to be the first paraplegic in a wheelchair to walk to Everest base camp.