Portsmouth amputee hopes to ‘crutch myself all the way’ to Snowdon summit with T-shirt with the words ‘no leg, no excuse’

Matt Edwards plans to climb Mount Snowdon in North Wales with his friend Jack Sharpe on Saturday, with the added challenge of doing the hike on crutches and as an amputee, following the loss of his left leg below the knee five years ago. ‘I was in a traffic collision when I was travelling to work on my motorbike,’ the 24-year-old from Portsmouth said.

‘I was in an induced coma and I woke up on Christmas Eve without a limb and I was only 19 years old.’

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He added that due to a lack of family support at the time and finding it ‘physically and mentally hard’ to process what had happened, he turned to alcohol and drugs and spent time in rehab for three weeks from February to March 2019.

‘At one point, I was drinking every day for about six months and became addicted to cocaine and that’s when I got sectioned in mid-February 2019 for drug-induced psychosis. Even before that, I was homeless and was just being a scrounger.’

The initial shock and difficulty coming to terms with what happened developed into Mr Edwards turning his life around and a new-found lust for fitness and helping others. ‘I’ve created a charity called Boxing for the Brain before the pandemic and I help people who have low self-esteem, no confidence,’ he said.

‘When I got out of rehab they told me I needed a hobby to keep my mind away from drugs and alcohol and when I found boxing and punched the bag for the first time, it was an instant stress reliever. I knew instantly that I could help a lot of people through this and have helped a lot of people get clean, sober and even housed and even just act as a shoulder to cry on.’

Fundraising for the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity (SANDS) as part of the challenge is to serve as the motivation for the avid boxer, with a family member having a close connection to stillbirth.

‘I also wanted the challenge to have a charity aspect because when you get half way and you feel like giving up – your arms are dead and your ankles are hurting, you’re soaking wet and slipping and sliding – that gives you the push to the top.

‘I have an abscess on my leg at the moment so cannot use my prosthetic leg, so I will crutch myself all the way to the summit.’

Donations, which have exceeded £300, giving him a boost to complete the hike.

‘It’s nice to know that people out there are following my journey,’ he said. ‘I just hope people look at me and think, if he can do it, I can do it and that is why I will be wearing a t-shirt with the words ‘no leg, no excuse’ on it. I also want to show that I don’t have a disability, I have a different ability.’

Mr Edwards fundraising page can be found here: www.gofundme.com/f/amputee-attempts-to-climb-mount-snowdon

More information about SANDS can be accessed here: www.sands.org.uk/