91Èȱ¬

A former Army reservist who made history by becoming the first wheelchair user to complete an international endurance challenge says he hopes to inspire other disabled people.

Darren Edwards, from Shropshire, was paralysed from the chest down after a rock climbing accident in Snowdonia in 2017.

But the 32-year-old has now completed the World Marathon Challenge, which sees participants complete seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.

He said: "I remember being told about the things I wouldn't be able to do and how life would never quite be the same, and a lot of these messages were quite negative about what life would look like.

"So what I have done in the years that have followed is to try to show a person that might be in a hospital right now, who may be young and active, what is possible when there is hope, and that there is room for aspiration and ambition and to dream."

Mr Edwards, from Shrewsbury, who landed at Heathrow Airport early on Thursday morning, said he "slept the whole flight back from Miami".

Speaking after landing, Mr Edwards said: "I feel pretty exhausted, the last three days were really tough.

"You're running on less and less energy, day by day.

"The final marathon was so incredible, to know that it was coming to an end, I found a new lease of energy."

Mr Edwards has so far raised about £50,000 for the Armed Forces Para-Snowsport Team, a charity which helped him learn to ski after his accident.

When he returns to the UK, he will begin planning his next challenge - skiing across Europe's largest glacier in Iceland in April, spanning 93 miles (150km).

He will take on the feat with former professional rugby player and TV presenter Ed Jackson, who suffered a fracture dislocation of two neck vertebrae in 2017, and Niall McCann, who also has a spinal injury.

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