A soldier awaiting a medical discharge from the army, decided that sitting at home on sick leave was not a good use of his time, and has instead signed up for a unique challenge.

Ben Gallagher came across Kayak4Heroes and contacted them to offer help in any way the team could use him. Instead he very quickly found himself becoming a member of the team which will undertake a gruelling kayak journey from Land's End to John O'Groats in July.

Kayak 4 Heroes aim to achieve a world first by becoming the first adaptive team to complete the iconic British challenge of Land’s End to John O’ Groats by kayak, tackling some of the UK's toughest waters, in the process, Kayak 4 Heroes aiming to raise over £100,000 for charities supporting our nation’s heroes.

It was while he was on active duty in 2019 that Ben’s world was turned upside down. He was shot numerous times and received blast/fragmentation injuries to both arms and upper torso, his body armour undoubtedly saved his life.

He underwent many operations one of which was extensive surgery to reconstruct his left arm with tendon, nerve and skin grafts, and as a result he also has surgical injuries to both legs.

"I am a bit stubborn," he says, "and I want to test my injuries - that's part of how this came about.

"When I was discharged from the hospital I couldn't even sit on a rowing machine so that became a challenge. But I figured that if I could do it before surely I could still do it."

He soon proved that he could, picking up British records for AR3 (adaptive rowing) 2000m and four-minute indoor rows in 2020.

"It's physically demanding for anyone, let alone someone with an arm injury," he concedes. "But it's not about disability, it's about ability." For Ben, it's not just personal either. "It's about trying to encourage others to get out and give it a go."

To donate to Kayak 4Heroes and to find out more about this and Ben's plans for Walking with the Wounded across the desert in Oman, and running the Marathon des Sables later this year, visit bengallaghergbr.weebly.com