The former GB para-athlete from Devon hoping to ski to the South Pole in 40 days

Jonny Huntington, from Kingsbridge in south Devon, completed a 20-day solo expedition in northern Sweden in April in preparation for the challenge. Credit: Jonny Huntington

A former GB para-athlete from south Devon is aiming to become the first disabled person to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole- in just 40 days.

Jonny Huntington, 38, from Kingsbridge suffered a stroke while serving as an officer in the British Army in 2014. The bleed on his brain left him completely paralysed from the neck down on his left side.

After 10 years of rehabilitation and training he is set to ski 566 miles of Antarctic tundra - starting his adventure on Monday 11 November.

He will be dragging all his equipment and food in a sled which will weigh in excess of 110kg.

Mr Huntington said: “No one with a disability has done this before so I find it quite exciting. I’ll be doing it completely on my own with no sort of help, no resupply, nothing like that.

“You sort of get thrown out of a plane at one end and you hopefully wind up at the other end, 40 days later.

“Existing somewhere which is fundamentally hostile to life, it’s the ultimate test.”

The former army officer was just eight weeks into his role when he suffered a bleed on the brain.

Jonny Huntington suffered a bleed on the brain in 2014 Credit: Josh Raper

It took years of rehabilitation before he was able to fully walk again, and even then he was left with restricted movement down his left side.

He has also been left with permanent brain damage.

“When I was about two years post injury and had just been discharged from the military, I experienced some pretty poor mental health." said Mr Huntington.

“A significant aspect of it came about because I had lost sight of what I felt I was meant to be working towards.”

During his recovery, he became a member of the Armed Forces Para-Snowsport Team (AFPST), which ignited his love for skiing.

Mr Huntington went on to join the GB Para Nordic ski team, where he competed from 2017 to 2020 at World Cups in Lviv, Ukraine, and Vuokatti, Finland, as well as the inaugural European Paralympic Committee Games in Poland in 2020.

The idea for his South Pole expedition was planted after he stopped skiing competitively.

Jonny Huntington is aiming to become the first disabled person to ski solo and unsupported in the Antarctic Credit: Chris Powell/PA

He has since taken on a number of challenges to prepare for the venture, including running the entirety of the 630 mile South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset.

He also undertook a 20-day solo expedition in northern Sweden in April.

For his Antarctic challenge, Mr Huntington will fly into Union Glacier where he will spend a few days on the ice to complete his final preparations.

He will then take a final short flight to the start of the expedition where he will set off from Fuchs-Messner on the edge of the Antarctic landmass and ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole.

“I know that I know what I’m doing, and I also know, having spoken to other people who have done successful expeditions, that I have done the right level of preparation,” Mr Huntington added

“I’ve done everything I can to make it succeed, but I’ve never been to Antarctica before, it famously has quite strict conditions down there.

“There aren’t disabled explorers, it’s not a job, but I’ll just have to figure out how we can make this work.”