Episode 2 Harry's Arctic Heroes

The Arctic, one of the harshest environments on the planet.

Warm my hands up before they get excruciatingly cold.

Temperatures can sink to minus 50 centigrade,

the wind can reach 110 miles an hour and all that's between you

and two and a half miles of ink-black Arctic ocean

are a few thin inches of ice.

Your pole goes in, you're out of your harness and go to the bottom of the sea.

Into this extreme, four wounded British soldiers...

Ohh, right on the ribs!

It is quite hard. We're not making a lot of ground.

..two expedition founders...

It's the end of day... Oh, holy cow.

..one polar guide...

We have to be more careful because the pulk can just run over and break your leg.

..and one prince.

No matter who you are, unless you really hate the cold, this place is amazing.

Together, they'll attempt the first unsupported trek to the North Pole by wounded servicemen.

If successful, they'll set a new world record.

This is the story of their journey

from the battlefields of Afghanistan

to top of the world.

It's 2.50am.

The team, and expedition patron Prince Harry, have just landed

on the frozen Arctic Sea at the Russian ice station, Barneo.

-Welcome to Barneo.

-This is their first time anywhere like this.

I'm standing on a floating ocean. It's quite cool.

From here, it's a 90-minute helicopter ride

to their start point, 160 miles from the North Pole.

Nearly three o'clock.

As you can see, it's still light.

Therefore, one's body clock is in all sorts of disarray.

We were told sun, clear sky and no wind and minus 15.

It's solid cloud and minus 28 in the wind.

For the four wounded servicemen, this will be

their toughest physical and mental challenge since being injured.

This is a journey into the unknown,

but also a journey of recovery.

'There's probably a pretty good reason

'Why nobody with a disability has been to the North Pole unsupported before, cos it's hard.

'This will be the single biggest test that I've probably ever had.'

'It's one of the great greatest challenges out there.

'It's no question in any of our heads, we are going to get there, simple as.'

'No amputee has ever done this and I want to do something that

'makes people think, "Christ, that's pretty hard work."'

'With the group we are and the variety of injuries, it's going to be a life changing experience.

'I want to prove to everyone that this is what I'm capable of doing.'

'It will be a very special moment. I think they'll be

'all bawling their eyes out, fully grown men crying, when they get to the end of it,

'because then they deserve to feel that emotional rush that they will get, no doubt.'

It's 4.45 in the morning and the team are at their start point.

Captain Guy Disney with the Light Dragoons is a right leg amputee.

It's the most amazing landscape I've ever seen in my life

and I think we're about to feel pretty isolated when the helicopter goes.

From here, it's a long slog across the ice to the Pole,

pulling everything they need in 100-kilo pulks, or sleds.

Captain Martin Hewitt's right arm was paralysed while serving with the Parachute Regiment.

I fell asleep on the helicopter on the flight in and got off completely relaxed

and didn't have my orange jacket on, and I got off and I was like, "Oh, my word, it's quite cold."

South African Jaco Van Gass, also a Para, had his left arm blown off in Afghanistan.

Once this chopper leaves,

we are officially the most northern people for 2011.

-Aren't we, Dags?

-We are.

We are the most northerly people on Earth at the moment.

Early, very, very early.

Bit of peace and quiet.

Been a while. It's a nice place.

It's quite far to come for some peace and quiet, though.

I'm not going to lie. It's pretty far away. But, hey,

amongst friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Welsh Guardsman Sergeant Stephen Young had his back broken in an explosion.

Number one, put the tent up, so let's get cracking.

The plan is to rest a few hours before setting off at midday.

Guy and Martin are sharing a tent with expedition founder, Simon Daglish.

OK, you're in, Guy.

While Jaco and Steve are with expedition founder, Ed Parker.

Prince Harry's in with the guide, Inge Solheim.

How to make a tent in under five minutes.

The tents are pitched together to help protect against polar bears and the team are armed as well.

Yeah.

It's unlikely they'll encounter a polar bear this far north,

but it's a precaution all Arctic explorers take.

Tents pitched, next it's melting snow for water, and that means lighting their stoves.

That would be good - day one, within the first hour...

Fooh! Eyebrows gone.

Now we're good.

Cooking on gas.

It's one of those things if you get wrong in a tent like this,

then you spend about a minute standing around

with a giant hand warmer and then a few days without a tent.

It's really that simple.

We're just catching up doing a diary.

I hate to say it, I'm probably the least imaginative person in the world.

I don't tell people I love them, I don't write warming words in diaries.

I've been described by one ex-girlfriend as emotionally numb.

It isn't a good thing. I don't think it was a compliment.

So my diary at the moment is, "Just landed on the ice from Barneo at 0500. It's now 0600."

I put, "incredible wilderness", which is pretty descriptive for me.

You take a look outside and it is utterly stunning, it really is.

The nickname is the Devil's Dancefloor, but it's pretty much

as close to God as it gets. It's pretty special out there.

The team go to sleep.

Bye.

When they wake up,

they spend two hours rehydrating their rations and making water for the day ahead.

It's actually quite mild today.

-It's a bit windy.

-It's minus seven in here.

-Yeah, a cosy minus seven.

It's all running like clockwork.

How was your first night on the Arctic Ocean?

It was good. Do you want me to wipe that?

That better? It was good. It was really toasty warm.

I wasn't cold once. Both of us were snoring our heads off,

and I woke up satisfied that I've had enough sleep.

You seem to get on well with the guys.

As far as I am concerned, I'm one of the lads. I probably have

three different lives. One's my military life, one's my private life

and one's the sort of the public stuff.

It all intertwines with each other, but, you know,

me as a military man is probably my number one favourite

because you get to spend time with people like this.

It is very special.

Getting kit right is essential in these extremes, particularly for delicate injuries.

For Jaco, keeping his stump protected is a priority.

I've got, in total, four insulation layers. That should keep it warm.

So it's nice and toasty.

Martin's paralysed right arm is also vulnerable in the cold.

Just trying to sort the old glove out.

I've got a hand warmer in there to try and insulate the hand a little.

You all OK?

Off we go.

They set off at 1.26, heading across the frozen Arctic sea.

This is rather unique.

It's barren,

it's oppressive, it's unforgiving.

It's quite surreal.

The team have 160 miles of icy wilderness ahead of them.

They need to average ten miles a day

to arrive at the geographic North Pole, the top of the world,

in 16 days' time.

So, you're looking at me, I'm looking at you.

I'm thinking to myself,

"What are you thinking while you watch this?"

Well, I'm about 20 yards behind Stephen,

all in a single line, all for one good cause.

I tell you what, these guys, amazing, absolutely astonishing.

Despite its raw beauty, this is a dangerous place.

The weather can turn in seconds, the ice can split apart

and the extreme cold takes a severe toll.

Within 30 minutes, it's claiming its first victim.

-Yeah, your chin here has already been frostbitten.

-Yeah.

See, it's white.

The hood should cover you

so it protects your face.

You guys have to watch out for each other.

When skin freezes, the first stage of damage is frost nip.

Next it's frostbite, which can lead to amputation.

Wind-chill just caused a little bit of frost nip on my cheek here,

so I'm just trying to stay out of the wind, try to keep that covered.

Getting a cold injury is serious.

Jaco could be evacuated off the ice if it gets worse.

With his face protected, the team take a pit stop.

First things first, warm kit, essential.

But for one-armed Jaco, it's all a struggle.

-Do you need a hand?

-Yeah.

-Where's your food?

-It's in there.

In the harsh climate,

the team will burn up to 8,000 calories each per day.

Keeping the body fuelled is essential.

I've got some jelly beans in there, which will taste like old pebbles,

cos they're so frozen and they pretty much take your teeth out.

Ahh!

Once in their polar rhythm,

they'll ski for two hours and break for ten minutes, all day long.

But on day one, the routine is far from set.

The progress is really slow. It's difficult to move around. The weight of the pulks,

the terrain we're moving, it's quite difficult.

Where the ice breaks up, it forms mini mountain ranges called pressure ridges.

Sometimes it's one metre high and sometimes it's six metres high.

They're a messy mix of hard-as-concrete lumps of ice, all piled on top of each other.

Skis are coming off.

We're crossing something big.

For Guy, who lost his leg in a rocket-propelled grenade attack

in Afghanistan, it's hard negotiating the rough stuff.

It's difficult terrain.

Getting the pulk over some of the big bits is hard work. We've just got to deal with it.

For Martin and Jaco, with missing or damaged arms, getting over the ice boulders is equally challenging.

Ah! Ha-ha!

Steve needs to be extra careful with his fragile back.

Having Harry along is a great help.

Everybody's helping everybody. It's the only way.

The team have no choice but to scramble over the pressure ridges,

hauling their heavy pulks all the way.

Wow!

-Is that the good leg or the bad leg?

-It's not the bad leg.

You can easily get your foot trapped and the pulk can run over it and break your leg.

Pulling it over the rubble is difficult.

Because of the sheer weight, you've got to really drive into it

and then you risk falling over, front first.

If you're looking back through there, it's just mental.

But then, this way, it looks flat.

Probably done about two and a bit miles, maybe?

The team keep going,

slowly heading north.

It's opened my eyes to a whole new world.

I presume after a few days it probably kicks in and you get into a rhythm,

but at the moment, you can't get into a rhythm because of this stuff, but it's like this the whole way.

Pitching camp at 7.30, the first day has been tough.

Especially for Martin.

I had quite a few falls today, which was humorous at times,

but after about the 6th or 7th time, it becomes less funny.

They've covered 6.5 miles,

but should have done ten.

It's not a great start.

But for Steve, whose back was broken in a bomb blast in Afghanistan,

the end of the day is very welcome.

I'm glad we stopped, because my back was sore towards the end

but fingers crossed it'll be OK tomorrow, and yeah, should be all right.

Should be all right, hopefully.

I don't think there's anybody here who couldn't admit that today caught them slightly off guard.

But no, it was good, you know, day one of exercise.

Takes time getting into things.

And my legs now - ow!

The most important thing is morale.

And today, a few of the guys got a bit down,

a bit, "This is quite full-on, we're going to have to do this for three weeks."

But full respect to these guys,

and full respect to anybody who does this.

A morning routine is getting established.

But working with just one hand is slow, especially in a thick mitten.

Last to be packed away are the tents,

the team's only shelter on the ice.

I've got some sweet tunes playing in my ear.

So...

..excuse me if I start bopping.

Ah!

The team must improve on yesterday's performance if they hope to reach the Pole.

Day two. We did 10 kilometres yesterday.

Today we need to do at least 15.

Not very likely.

It's all about trying to get into the rhythm.

I wish my brother was here, actually. I really wish he was here.

He'd quite enjoy this.

As in, just for a couple of days!

It feels a little bit cheating, but Willie would love this.

"Happy stag weekend! We're walking to the North Pole!"

Some people find it very strange that people always want to go back to Afghanistan.

I understand it now.

The hardest thing for these guys is being told that they can't work any more.

The hardest thing for Martin is the fact that he can't go into battle any more,

be with his mates, do what he loves, you know?

The team has started day two well, but up here, nothing's guaranteed.

The ice rubble here is relatively challenging.

The precariously thin ice is giving way under Inge's skis.

It's quite fresh.

Probably formed yesterday, and it still hasn't frozen up properly.

They can't risk crossing it.

Would that be better?

That's the wrong way!

The team have no choice but to head into another maze of boulders and pressure ridges.

Crossing a mass of ice rubble, and it's quite hard work.

It's all helping me, because it's impossible to clear on my own.

This is the toughest test yet for the wounded soldiers.

Right on the ribs!

Ah-ha-ha! Ah!

Over the next two hours, they cover less than a mile.

Struggling to the end of the rubble field,

only to face worse as they emerge onto more dangerously thin ice.

This time, there's no option but to cross.

The ice can just take the weight of one man

and his 100-kilo pulk.

But with each crossing, it's getting weaker.

Steve sets off.

For Martin, once again, balancing with one arm is tricky.

He nearly ends up in the freezing Arctic Sea.

Harry's the last man across.

There's 2.5 miles of sea beneath him.

The weakened ice just holds.

Steve and I nearly just went straight through the ice!

We'd have seen a bit more of the ocean than we originally hoped for.

The team push on.

The point of this is to raise awareness. That's how I feel.

For these guys. They've been through hell.

And they've come out the other side.

And they are doing it for all the other servicemen and women.

They're still coming back. Injured.

I guess the support's getting better.

But it still needs to be so much better.

As they pitch camp, it's Harry's last night with the team.

Today has just been fantastic.

I couldn't have asked for better, as a final day.

Part of me wants to say that I really want to stay.

But I've got military commitments back home. It's not ideal.

A small wedding to help out with.

On top of that, without sounding like an idiot,

I don't want to steal the limelight from these guys.

I feel as though I've done my bit. I've been here, supported them,

had a great laugh with them, but now it's up to them.

It's Harry's final morning.

The chopper's due to pick him up in the next hour. In the meantime,

Guy and Martin have discovered a problem.

Woke up this morning to a crack running through the middle of the tent. Not good.

It brings it home that you're sitting on top of an ocean.

Slip down that, you're not coming back.

Strong ocean currents

and powerful winds keep the ice in constant motion.

It's this movement that creates pressure ridges

and also rips the ice apart, forming open-water leads.

But it's not just the polar ice that's affected.

We got a text message on the satellite phone

that the runway at Barneo had cracked.

You can't land a plane on a cracked runway.

Harry will have another day with the team.

I've got to march with these boys today, and get picked up tonight.

'A few people have got blisters on their feet.'

Wind's on our back. The only thing we didn't think of

was turning up our jackets into kites, otherwise we'd be cruising.

It is enjoyable.

You look around and it's like nothing that I've never seen before in my life. It's pristine, clean,

but, you know, it is hard going.

My back started aching about two hours ago,

so I've taken some painkillers.

You know, I wanted a challenge, and I've got one!

The relentless cold is affecting everyone.

Just hold it lightly.

Yeah, the blood circulation's back on this one.

Put your hat on, it's cool. And your hood in the beginning,

so you get really warm, and then you can take it off again.

Er, frost nipping my ears. I think it was going that way.

I was happily chatting to Jaco,

talking about his arm, or lack of,

having a bit of a banter with him, and then Inge comes running, going,

"Your ears, your ears!"

They went white quite quickly, but they're back, fine now.

Have to do what I'm told, and put my hood up.

Cool!

We continue.

They ski on to the end of the day.

It's 7pm. The runway's fixed. The helicopter's on its way.

For Harry, it's time to go back to his military duties.

I'm going to sit down, my feet hurt. Without doubt, the best day.

Blue sky, walking into the sun the majority of the day.

Wind behind our backs. I mean, look at this place.

It's beautiful. There's no place on earth like this.

I feel like I'm in a snow globe,

waiting for someone to shake it, hoping nobody will.

I'd love to stay. I'm going to miss these guys a lot.

After being part of the team for the past ten days,

there are fond farewells.

He's a cracking lad. He's brought a lot to the team. Just nice to have him for that time.

-North Pole. Come on back, man, come on, Jaco.

-Awesome. Awesome, yeah?

He just gave us a last word of encouragement. He's a real nice bloke.

Behave yourself, and hopefully you might grow a bit!

It's surreal. He's third in line to the throne.

But, ah, he's just been, you know, one of us. Another mate.

-Cheers, guys.

-I'll miss him. He's a good lad.

Harry won't see the guys again until they get back to the UK.

The team have covered just over 40 miles.

But they still have 120 to go.

The constant physical work and the cold are starting to take a toll.

Especially on Jaco.

I'm feeling a bit tired today. I had very bad sleep last night.

So I'm struggling a bit today.

I'm just putting a lot of fluids in, eating a lot of energy bars.

When Jaco was blown up in 2009,

he not only lost his left arm,

he also lost a third of the muscle from his left leg.

Just gave Guy some weight. Just a food bag.

There's no point trying to be a hero.

Keep carrying on when you're struggling.

He had extensive internal injuries and was lucky to survive.

It's taken 15 operations to rebuild him.

It's no wonder he's suffering in the Arctic.

There are days when we'll all be struggling.

Jaco had more weight than me, so I took a small bag off him.

But he's just not quite as well as us at the moment.

I need to do everything just with one hand.

So Steve and Ed are absolute heroes in my eyes. They helped me a lot.

I don't think I realised quite when we got out here

how important that responsibility would become.

I think Dags and I are feeling it, just more than the boys know.

With support from his team-mates, Jaco's mood picks up

and he's able to enjoy his surroundings.

It doesn't matter how hard your day is, or how tired you is,

the view's still breathtaking.

It's unbelievable, actually, that we're here.

It's quite amazing.

The team have crossed countless pressure ridges,

but now they're facing their first open-water lead,

where the ice breaks apart, revealing the freezing sea beneath.

It's cutting right across their route to the Pole.

So, the most important thing now is,

don't put your ski pole into the slush...

Basically, the ice, probably over two hours, has split apart.

Take your time. Careful!

-The danger is that, obviously, if you go in...

-Take that rope away, so that you don't trip in it.

..uh, then you're in deep trouble.

It doesn't look very dangerous, but because it's so narrow,

we don't want to get stuck in there.

Because it'll be difficult to get you out again.

So, ski pole,

follow, put that ski over.

If your pole goes in, it's going to pull you back in

and you're out of your harness and you go to the bottom of the sea.

This is only a small lead. The team makes it across.

Later that night, the daily update call

reminds Guy of when he got injured.

Hello once again from the officers' mess.

These are the same phones we had in Afghan,

so it's actually quite um, evocative, using these,

because the last time I used one of these

was about seven hours before I got blown up.

I called home, and they said, "How's it going?"

"Yeah, really, really good, everything's good, going well."

The next time I called, Mum answered the phone,

"Oh, hi, Guy, how are you?" It was Sunday morning.

"Yeah, good, but... " And she goes, "Yeah?"

"I had my right leg blown off." She goes, "Ri-ight!"

I said, "Don't worry, everything's as good as gold."

Um, so, yeah, quite evocative, using these.

The next morning, Jaco's better

and keen to protect the only part of his body not already scarred.

I put some plaster on my nose and on my cheeks,

just to prevent any form of frost nip.

I probably look like a right idiot, but with so much scars all over my body,

the face is probably the only place I haven't got a scar,

so there needs to be one there, as well! Trying to protect it.

Jaco's face may be covered up,

but the unrelenting grind is getting to Steve's delicate back.

One of those days where you think you're doing well,

but it just comes back and lets you know it was there.

Really, really hurting the last hour.

Steve's back was broken when his vehicle was blown up in Afghanistan.

The explosion smashed his vertebrae

and caused extensive soft tissue damage.

I tried to get through with no painkillers, but I couldn't do it,

so I'll just smash some painkillers into me now, have a stretch off,

and just go for the rest of the day as best I can, really.

He was told he would never walk again

and was strapped to a spinal bed for 16 weeks.

But now, after many months of physio,

Steve's skiing to the North Pole.

Get me through the next couple of hours.

Everyone's hurting in their own different way so you can't complain.

Just get through the day as best you can.

They put their heads down and soldier on.

The team have crossed many pressure ridges.

But now they've come across the Arctic's raw power in action.

Now the ice is moving here.

This is how the pressure ridges are being made.

ICE CRACKING AND GRINDING

It's a rare sight.

What you've got here is

two huge masses of ice pushing in towards one another,

almost like tectonic plates pushing together or pulling apart.

Pressure from one side is forcing the ice field above this ice field.

Under my feet I can feel vibrations, serious vibrations now,

and tremors of the force of one pack of ice hitting the other,

which, I have to say, is very, very cool.

It's been a good day, and there's less than 100 miles to go.

-COUGHING

-Dear, oh dear. It's the end of day...

Holy cow, end of day...

Six?

No, five, end of day five. We've had a good day,

a really good day, actually, and we smashed in about 13½ miles,

which gives us a bit more in the bank.

It's a morale boost, covering the miles.

And Steve's spirits are lifted further by a message from home.

From my big sister - "Good luck for this challenge,

"Steve, my baby brother, my hero, so very proud of you all,

"love you loads, my strong, brave, determined brother,

"big hugs, your big sister, xxx."

It's a little message, but it means a lot

to get a little reminder

that they're thinking about you, it's nice.

Day six,

and the guys are on top of their game, breaking camp in minutes.

We're starting to get to the point now where,

during the day, if you haven't got something to distract your mind,

it can get quite boring. Today I've got audio books on my iPod.

I'm listening to A Thousand Splendid Suns, I think, today.

The team are getting into the Arctic rhythm.

It's a frustratingly slow pace today.

This is what's known in the community as the polar plod.

The exhausting work is getting to Guy.

My leg's starting to rub quite a lot

and, by the end of the day, it's really sore.

I took off the socket last night and it was really bloody,

which I've kept quiet, to be honest,

because I am conscious that we need to push on.

He lost his lower leg when an RPG

hit the armoured vehicle he was commanding.

It ripped through his leg and, tragically,

killed the young soldier next to him.

I always know I've got about an hour left in it each day

when it starts to get sore.

I can put up with that, knowing it's another hour off another day.

He was airlifted to Camp Bastion.

What remained of his leg was amputated.

He had four operations on his stump,

and now uses a prosthetic limb to keep mobile.

I always knew, further into the trip,

if I went more, my leg would start to rub.

I've just got to grin and bear it, it's not going to go away.

To be honest, as long as I have a breath in my body,

I'm going to the North Pole.

Expedition founder Simon Daglish is worried.

I was just talking to Ed. Just a mild concern about Guy's leg.

It looks a little bit sore,

and we just need to make sure that drive and determination

doesn't take over from actually leaving permanent damage.

Later on, Guy's examining his stump after another long day.

We've got a cream that we put on at night,

it's just good for aches and pains.

I'm just having a few rubs around the joint there.

Any prominent part on the leg, it catches the prosthesis,

and it's not really that bad, it's like any blister,

but you've just got to manage it and look after it.

To me, the worst-case scenario is the stump itself gets infected

and I have to chop more off,

which would be disastrous, as bad as it gets.

Another day dawns over the Arctic.

In just six days, they're nearly halfway.

But there's still a long way to go.

For the wounded soldiers,

this trip is about more than getting to the Pole -

it's also about their futures.

Guy and Steve are staying in the Army,

but Jaco and Martin are being medically discharged.

Spent a fair bit of time today thinking about what I'm going to do

in a couple of months' time when I leave the Army.

This is a good place to collect your thoughts and think about the future.

Martin's Army career ended

when he was shot through the right shoulder in Afghanistan in 2007.

The bullet severed the main artery in his arm.

He nearly bled to death on the desert floor.

The thought of doing anything else is...

It just doesn't cross your mind,

until you take a hit, which means you can't do your job any more.

I just prepare myself to go on

and do whatever I'm going to do next, which is still unknown.

In four years, he's had 13 operations

to try and repair his arm.

There's an intensified nerve pain because of the cold,

and it's inflamed because I've banged it a fair few times.

I'm not sure if I've bruised the bone

or it's just the cold that's doing it.

One nasty fall is all it takes.

I've had a lot of falls, but luckily, so far,

none of them have caused any major injuries.

The soldiers are coping well

but every day, the Arctic throws up more challenges.

Slightly frustrating, we've just come across a huge water lead,

by far the biggest we've found so far,

so we're trying to find a way around it,

whether we will or not, it's pretty big.

These leads can extend for miles.

The team head east, away from the Pole,

losing valuable time.

Eventually, they find a crossing point.

Inge's plan is to use the pulks as floating pontoons

to bridge the gap over the freezing sea.

The water is between minus 1.5 and 2 degrees.

It's the salination and the movement that keeps it relatively open.

-What would happen if someone fell into that?

-It would be very cold.

-JACO:

-Just a little bit hairy,

especially for me and Martin, we have to balance with one hand.

If we fall to our weak side,

that's us in the water, so I might just get wet, you know.

It takes a bit of time,

but it breaks the day up and it's something different.

Gets the heart racing, as well.

Wait there, wait there, wait there.

Yeah, it's a little bit hairy, but, um,

but it's a bit of variety.

Our only fear is that we don't meet too many of them,

because it's very time-consuming.

There's no way any of us want to fall in.

All the pulks we pulled across,

all the water on them is frozen instantly.

The guys are safely over.

Later on, Martin's examining his arm.

Bad news?

Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's swollen just because of the cold.

It's either just inflammation because of the knock,

or I've broken a bone.

But the nerve pain is a little bit more intensified,

which means I've damaged it in one way or another.

Do you think you've broken something or not?

I might have done, mate, yeah. Just be a hairline fracture, if I have.

I tell you now, one of the big things

that the guys in Headley Court were concerned about

was how girls would perceive them with their injuries now,

especially guys that have had parts of their genitals blown off

or completely gone, of which I've got a number of colleagues,

personally, who are in that position.

And that is an extremely difficult thing to deal with.

Despite all the team have been through in this bleak landscape,

they're in high spirits.

Captain Hewitt here, diary day nine.

Is it day nine today?

All good. Martin did a stint in front, which was pretty frenetic.

All after today...

Dags is well, not as grumpy as usual today, which is nice,

I think that's because the sun's out.

This is exactly what we've got to work with.

-Got to put up with this, day in, day out!

-Hello, Miss Lady!

Sergeant Young's in good humour.

He remembered to salute me this morning, he doesn't always.

All the days have merged into one, apparently.

Oh, is it a pick-and-mix?

Look.

Look at the beauties down there.

Mmm-mmm!

I'm really starting to think about sex,

I've just got sex on my mind the whole time.

All I do is walk and think about sex.

Everything seems to be going their way.

All in all, a good day.

But the Arctic can catch you unawares.

MAN CRIES OUT

One of the expedition founders, Ed, has taken a fall.

Put up the tent there.

Inge's in charge.

We need a tent.

Until he knows how bad Ed is, he assumes the worst.

-Get one of theirs.

-OK.

I think his ribs. I think so, I'm not sure.

Have you got some foam mats?

You OK?

Can you describe what happened?

I hit my back on the...

When I heard him fall, I genuinely thought he'd broken his back.

I heard the most almighty crack and was thinking,

"Christ, he's going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life,"

and I thought, "That's it, game over."

How is...how is the pain?

Do you think it's your spine?

-Yes, the spine, although I can feel my legs.

-What?

It makes you realise how quickly a trip like this can go wrong.

Thought I'd lost you there for two seconds

because you fainted and hit your head down there.

It would have been a cruel, cruel blow if one of the guys

who's put so much work into this project ended up unable to make it.

You all right, Parks?

-What happened?

-I slipped and hit my back right on the edge.

I had my pulk at the top of that little piece of snow

and there's a slab of ice.

The skis just went from under me and I fell backwards,

and my back fell right on the edge of the ice.

I had this shooting pain across my back

and my first thought was... it's not very good.

Luckily, this time, it looks like he went OK, but you never know.

It just seems wrong, Inge now having to pull my sledge.

We're not meant to be here, really, is the long and short of it.

Humans don't live here for very good reasons,

because it's uninhabitable, so we're here as guests.

Should we somehow become detached from that pulk,

which is our lives, we wouldn't survive.

I was thinking that it's a little like what Steve encounters,

then I realised I hadn't broken my back,

it was just a tiny modicum of what he feels,

which is really why I shut up fairly quickly

and got back on to my pulk, but Steve has that every day.

With Ed's fall fresh in their minds,

the reality of the Arctic hits home.

I didn't really go into this with the attitude that failure was an option.

Any of us on our own would have really struggled with this,

but together, we work well as a unit.

They put their heads down and motor

to get off the ice as quickly as possible.

I feel about 90 years old today. Proper feeling it today.

I think it was my body's way of rebelling, basically,

and asking me to go back home to a nice warm room, but, er, sod it.

Put it down my neck.

Let it heat up properly.

The team have less than 40 miles to go,

but that's still a gruelling three days' trek.

I just want to stand hours and hours in a hot shower.

But...we've got to keep going, got to keep going.

It's 8:30am.

The team's 12th day on the ice, and it could be their last.

They're only 10 miles from the North Pole.

Very much an end-of-term feeling.

I had a smile on my face when I woke up.

I looked outside, absolutely beautiful day,

a glorious day today, and we're just raring to go now.

We're just doing the last final packing.

It's been a long time coming,

so eight hours from now we'll be on the Pole.

Yeah, I suppose when we first were interviewed

and started looking into doing this,

I don't think I ever thought we'd get this far so easily.

I just count myself lucky to be a part of it.

It's been a wonderful experience, absolutely great.

For myself, it's been a 20-month period of my life,

at times quite a dark period,

and it's a good way of putting it all behind me.

For me it's been about demonstrating that,

if you're willing to adapt and you're able to adapt post-injury,

you can go on and do some great stuff.

From here, 299 metres.

If anyone were ever to say to me, "Was it easy?"

The answer is, definitely no, it wasn't.

I think what these four soldiers have achieved is amazing.

Their determination,

sometimes their bloody determination, in getting here is incredible.

And, frankly, something I think will remain with us

for the rest of our lives.

23 metres!

We're here.

Congratulations, guys.

CHEERING

-Job done, Parks.

-Job done!

-Mate, well done.

-Well done.

-Good effort, mate.

Good man. Well done, yeah?

Can't say, really.

Two years, and we've made it.

Amazing. Well, WE haven't made it.

These guys have made it. That's amazing, amazing.

-Thank you.

-Thank you. It was a great trip.

-Gob.

-Steve Boy!

Pleasure as always, mate!

Lovely. Give me one of those - pow! Boys!

Incredible - what an amazing bunch of guys.

What an amazing achievement.

Incredible. Can't say any more.

CHEERING

Faster!

Go, go, go!

Fantastic moment.

We've done it well, we've done it fast,

and their injuries are exactly how they were when we left,

so it's a huge, huge success,

and I'm just as pleased as punch.

Awesome. Can't believe we're here, can't believe we're here.

I claim this bit of sea for Wales!

It's been a hard old slog,

and I'm just glad we're all here as a team, awesome.

I always thought we'd make it, but just wasn't sure of the time

or what state we'd be in when we got here.

It's a good place to be right now, it really is.

It's been hard, emotional, fun, absolutely everything in it.

I'm actually quite a bit shaky, so it's time for celebrations.

Time to be happy.

We've done it.

Someone said to me directly, "You won't do it."

And to those, I'd simply say that I'm disabled, I'm standing on the geographic North Pole,

I've walked hundreds of kilometres unsupported to get here with this team.

Very special moment, mate.

I'm going to miss this.

And now I think I'm going to go somewhere hot. With a beach.

What they've done is absolutely fantastic.

They should have probably tried to make it look a bit harder, I think,

because to do this trip in 13 days or something, 4 days early,

it's incredible, really, really is incredible.

Five days later,

and the Walking With The Wounded team are finally home in the UK.

They've all been to the edge of life and have returned,

rebuilt and rehabilitated.

Hugely proud of them.

I was gutted to have missed them and not to be able to stay with them,

though I was exhausted at times.

I feel as though I missed out on a trip.

They have gone from the heat of Afghanistan to the freezing Arctic.

Everyone keeps throwing that word "inspirational" around,

but I think at the end of the day, what they've done

is truly, truly inspirational, and now, hopefully,

it'll show other people what you can do,

despite, you know, missing an arm or a leg.

They've not only conquered the North Pole,

they've conquered their life-threatening injuries.

They've proved to themselves and to everyone else that,

no matter what life throws at you,

hope, ambition and determination can help to overcome.

Everyone should be very proud of them, and they should be proud of themselves.

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