Bringing Bel Hope

When I was 17 years old, I broke my neck. I was millimetres away from being permanently paralysed and my life changing forever. I was lucky. Bel wasn’t – she fell off a climbing frame at just eight years old and is now paralysed from the neck down. She is totally dependent on her parents and relies on a ventilator to breathe at night. Her life has been totally devastated by her spinal injury.  See her story here: www.itv.com/news/calendar/2014-05-02/turner-twins-trek-across-greenland-for-brave-bel/ 

Bel has inspired me and my identical twin brother Ross to embark on a gruelling 340 mile Arctic trek across the desolate polar ice cap of Greenland to raise money for the vital work that Spinal Research is doing to end paralysis caused by spinal cord injury. The challenge involves trekking relentlessly over dangerous terrain, enduring sub-zero arctic temperatures and surviving hazardous storms. 

Polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton has always been a big inspiration to us too so that is why we've decided to cross the arctic - and if that wasn't a challenge enough, one of us will be using modern kit and equipment, while the other will use the same kit as Shackleton did 100 years ago in 1914, during the famous ‘Endurance’ expedition to Antarctica.  The Department of Twin Research at King's College London will be studying us to see how we are affected by the different kit, equipment and diet during our expedition.

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