Devon man aiming to be first disabled solo skier in South Pole

• Jonny Huntington speaks to ITV West Country reporter Grace Pascoe ahead of the challenge

A man from Devon is hoping to be the first disabled person to ski solo and unsupported in the South Pole.

Jonny Huntington from Kingsbridge suffered a stroke in 2014 which left him unable to walk, but after years of rehab he’s taking on his biggest ever challenge.

He needs to ski 22.5km a day to average 40 days dragging 110kg worth of kit in a pull.

“I don't see disabilities as inability and from my perspective doing something extremely difficult I feel demonstrates that," he said.

"This is the most difficult thing that I can conceive of doing, regardless of whether one is disabled or otherwise.

"Fewer than 51 people ever have soloed the South Pole, this is something which is legitimately very, very sort of unique in the sense that so few people have done this."

Jonny says he's been preparing for the trip for over five years

"It's a full-time job, a proper campaign and getting to the start line is going to be hard, let alone then finishing the trip."

Jonny suffered a stroke 10 years ago that left him with permanent brain damage and a severe weakness on his left side.

Following years of intense rehabilitation and training he says he’s as prepared as he can be, to ski over 900 kilometres from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole.

Jonny says completing the task with an injury has its challenges.

"Getting into a tent with an injured leg is more difficult than normal so a significant part of the training has just been getting used to doing all of those things."

He has spent time training in Sweden but says it’s difficult to prepare for the unknown.

"The winds will be a bit higher, the weather will be a bit colder but you have to trust the training that you've done and trust your capability to deal with whatever comes your way."

Jonny travels to Antarctica shortly and will be begin the ski in December. You can find his fundraiser here.