Mike hopes to go on uniqueAntarctic trek

Mike Goody, 27, has just returned from a two week training session in Iceland’s frozen tundra alongside other injured servicemen and women hoping to tackle the trek.

Mr Goody wants to be selected for the Walking With The Wounded expedition, which plans to take three teams from the UK, US and Commonwealth to Antarctica, in November.

If successful, he will travel 205 miles across the frozen wastes to the South Pole.

He will face sub-zero temperatures, dropping as low as -35C, blizzards and conditions so inhospitable it has made the Antarctic the only continent without an indigenous human population.

Not to mention the possibility of whipping winds of up to 100mph, the chance of a deadly whiteout storms and treacherous crevasses.

Mr Goody said: “It’s an honour to get this far, to be honest. But the training in Iceland was a completely different ball game.

“I’ve never done cross-country skiing before so it got kind of interesting, with balance problems.

“It was physically and mentally exhausting, working muscles I never knew I had and some I don’t have anymore. I could have really done with some of the leg muscles that I have lost.

“It can also be pretty lonely skiing, even though we’re in a group, as we’re in a single line going two hours at a time.”

Mr Goody’s left leg was partially amputated following a roadside bomb explosion while he was on a routine patrol through Kandahar province, in Afghanistan, in 2008.

He became depressed during his rehabilitation.However, he soon became an inspiration to other injured servicemen and women.

That led him to become one of the privileged few selected to take part in last summer’s Paralympic closing ceremony.

He was part of a team from Help for Heroes involved in the ‘human endeavour machine’ display during the stunning finale. He was also one of only a handful to carry the Paralympic torch.

Mr Goody has to wait to find out if he will be taking part in the trek, which will be televised for a documentary.

“It’s going to be a really tough challenge, so I can only wait and see,” he said. He is an emergency care support worker for South East Coast Ambulance Service.