Falklands veteran hand-cycles 321 miles from Mount Snowden to Portsmouth for brain tumour charity

• ITV News Meridian's Rachel Hepworth caught up with Paul Smith at the end of his epic adventure.

A Navy veteran, who has hand cycled 321 miles in five days to raise money for charity, was given a hero's return today. 65-year-old Paul Smith, from Portsmouth, was left with life-threatening and life-changing injuries following a car crash 33 years ago today (2 September).

He was left paralysed with locked-in syndrome, for 12 years, and after partially recovering, he decided to dedicate his life to fundraising.

The latest challenge saw him hand cycle from Mount Snowdon to Portsmouth.

In this latest challenge, the Falklands veteran has so far raised more than £2,000, with the hopes of raising £50,000 for Brain Tumour Research.

The challenge was in memory of his grandmother and two friends who died of the disease.

He had previously climbed Snowden on his hands and knees, which has helped him raise in total £2.3m for a variety of charities.

Paul has been taking part in charity work for 48 years and has been training for over a year to complete the challenge

He says this is possibly his last major challenge, though he doubts he will ever stop fundraising fully.

• Paul says that the reason why he is fundraising helped keep him going.

Since the accident, Paul’s brain still sometimes stops sending signals to his legs, which will stop working from “anywhere from a minute to an hour”.

He also now lives with constant migraine pressure, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Louise Aubrey, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: "Paul is an extraordinary person and a true inspiration to us all.

"We are honoured that he has decided to support us with his last major fundraising challenge and wish him well on this ambitious ride.

"It is sadly not uncommon to lose multiple loved ones to the disease. One in three people know someone affected by a brain tumour, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours since records began in 2002.

"Only by fundraising support like Paul’s can we fight back against the disease."

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