Paralysed Ed Jackson completes '12 peaks of Christmas'

The pair finished the challenge in Wales by climbing Tryfan, Glyder Fawr and Snowdon

A paralysed ex-rugby player has completed a challenge of climbing 12 of the UK's highest peaks in six days.

Ed Jackson, from Bath, and climber Ross Stirling completed the '12 peaks of Christmas' challenge on Christmas Eve.

After an accident in 2017, Mr Jackson was told by doctors he might never walk again.

The pair raised more than £17,500 for War Child's Afghanistan emergency appeal and the Millimetres 2 Mountains Foundation.

While climbing 11,490 metres (37,696 ft), Mr Jackson and Mr Stirling took turns to carry a Christmas tree on their back.

'Defied predictions'

In 2017, when Mr Jackson played for the Newport Gwent Dragons, he dived into the shallow end of a swimming pool, fracturing multiple vertebrae in his spine and ending his 10-year-professional rugby career.

The ex-Bath, Wasps and Dragons player was left paralysed from the neck down.

After signs of movement in his toes and intense surgeries and rehabilitation, Mr Jackson defied his doctors' predictions by taking on multiple challenges including reaching the top of Snowdon the year after his accident and climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest by going up and down his parent's staircase during the pandemic.

As a result of the accident, Mr Jackson developed Brown-Sequard syndrome.

It is a rare neurological condition that is caused by a lesion in the spinal cord, resulting in weakness or paralysis on one side of the body and a loss of sensation on the other.

He also struggles with bowel, bladder and temperature regulation issues that can cause several conditions such as fever, hyperthermia and hypothermia.

Ed Jackson and Ross Stirling have climbed 11,490 metres (37,696 ft) in just under six days

Using splints and sticks, he started his latest challenge in Scotland by climbing Càrn Mòr Dearg and Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis.

Mr Jackson and Mr Stirling then climbed Skiddaw, Helvellyn, Scaffell Pike and Great Gable.

Heading to Yorkshire, they ascended Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent.

They finished their challenge in Wales by climbing Tryfan and Glyder Fawr, before finally reaching the top of Snowdon on Christmas Eve.

'Emotional'

Mr Jackson said the challenge had been "pretty brutal" but emotionally it had "been amazing".

"I have to concentrate on every step, which after a 14-hour day walking, is really hard."

Mr Jackson said he was 'welling up' when he reached the top of Snowdon

He said reaching the top of Snowdon, the same summit he climbed just a year after his accident, was "pretty emotional".

"I was thinking back to how far I've come and how grateful I am to have come that far.

"It took the best part of nine hours the first time I did it, which was incredible considering I didn't ever think I'd be walking again."

For his next challenge, Mr Jackson hopes to head to Nepal to become the first person with a spinal cord injury to complete a 7,000 metre (22,965ft) climb.