The WWTW have done it !
Published on 19.04.2011 - Walking with the wounded
The WWTW have done about 300 km in 13 days
© Their website
Seven people and 4 wounded soldiers have been dropped on the ice of the Arctic ice cap on 4 April at the point 87°450 N / 120 E wich represents a distance of about 300 from the NP. 13 days later they had made it !
The most important aspect of this adventure has not been the expeditionary facts that this team has encountered all along their route in the same way as any other polar expedition. While the weather has been somewhat on their side (with lovely sunny days most of the time ), they have nevertheless had to cross free water channels, negotiate difficult compression zones (there was even one of them that came into being before their very eyes on 16 April), blaze a trail through the chaotic pack ice, fight against frostbite and the cold, and confront most of the time a strong headwind that made everyday life difficult; none of which prevented them from making regular progress to the tune of twenty odd kilometres per day on average, nor from reaching the pole a few days ahead of schedule.
They also are entitled to a certain kind of dream
No, the most important aspect of this adventure has been the fact that on the ice, over there, there were four heavily handicapped people (amputees) who embarked upon this project with the one and only goal of proving to the world and firstly to themselves that even war wounds could be cured and that the fact of having suffered physical injury in combat does not put an end to what could be called a certain part of life.
Although these courageous soldiers have wanted to follow in the steps of other (more valid) adventurers, it was not for the purpose of measuring themselves against them, but for telling themselves that they also were entitled to a certain kind of dream, like everyone else in the world. And that is how the “Walking With The Wounded” team has been able tenaciously to overcome those many daily difficulties.
The words of the project’s initiator, Simon Daglish, a 45-year-old Sales Director, (he works for Fox Interactive Media as Sales Director on great brands such as MySpace and IGN) well explain a soldier’s mindset in relation to the potential dangers that permanently threaten that particular occupation – at least when the men find themselves in harm’s way.
He has written : "The military can sometimes be hard, it is unlike any other career, the only one that licences you to kill and in turn be killed. Having said that you don’t join the army for this. You join out of a strong sense of belonging of doing a job that requires selfless giving and a unique level of teamwork. That team work has not been forgotten. It is now up to those who are no longer serving to help those less fortunate and have given so much under that sense of selfless duty. These woundedmen and women will soon fade from the headlines and but their injuries will forever be with them as they try re-build their lives. Walking with the wounded will be my little way of saying thank you and helping to raise funds so vitally needed to help these brave people back into some sort of “normality”....
