Down the creek with a paddle

Kevin Brady will attempt to paddle board Sri Lanka's longest river Credit: ITV West Country

  • Watch: Kevin Brady "bossing it on his board" ahead of his latest adventure

A Gloucestershire care worker will be attempting a world first this month by paddling a board from source to sea of the longest river in Sri Lanka, the Mahaweli with nothing but elephants, snakes, leopards and crocodiles for company.

Kevin Brady will also attempt to paddle board around the island of Sri Lanka which will add another 800 miles onto his already epic 208 mile voyage.

Kevin from Gloucester is fast making a name for himself for his global adventures which have also seen him canoe the entire 2,350-mile length of the Mississippi from North Minnesota on the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico.

He encountered the coldest winter on record and had to break ice on the Mississippi to get his canoe floating.

Brady is also famed for becoming the first person in history to swim the entire length of the River Severn. It was the equivalent of ten English Channel swims.

Kevin raised thousands of pounds for the Superhero Foundation Credit: ITV West Country

Recently Kevin hit the headlines again in September when he found a dead seven-foot tuna fish whilst out paddling on the Severn.

The fish was thirty miles from the sea Credit: Kevin Brady

Brady’s latest Sri Lankan adventure will see him experience a completely new set of challenges along the very unchartered waters of the river where he will have to contend with potentially dangerous white water stretches as well as the wildlife who may not welcome a stand up paddle boarder in their terrain.

Brady will be camping enroute using a hammock, where there is a threat of snakes or will sleep on his board, which will double up as an airbed.

During the day this will carry him and all his equipment enroute and whilst the inflatable boards have been rigorously tested to withstand the harshest environments, “it’ll be good to see how they stand up to a row of crocodile teeth,” Brady explains.

Along his Sri Lankan journey, he is once again hoping to enlist the help of the local villagers who will no doubt be fascinated by Brady’s solo voyage and the paddle board itself.

Kevin could face crocodiles in Sri Lanka Credit: ITV West Country

The journey will see Brady descend from over 2000 metres above sea level so he will be voyaging through very different environments on a real exploratory adventure.