Latest / Atomic Rambo Podcast / He Lost His Arm in an Accident. Three Months Later He Was Back on Skis. | Dan Eden

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He Lost His Arm in an Accident. Three Months Later He Was Back on Skis. | Dan Eden · Atomic Rambo Podcast

• Dan: I'm Dan and this is the Atomic Rambo podcast and today's guest is Dan Eden. Dan, how you doing man? I'm good thanks mate, how are you? Yeah, so the reason you're here and we just touched on it is that you messaged me telling me that you're doing Nordic skiing for 24 hours and I was like, this sounds like my man. Yeah, right. So I think we may as well start just give us a little bit of background on who you are, why you've only got one arm. and why you're trying to do a world record and then we'll fucking get into it. Why my absolute nut job. So yeah, Dan Eden, born and raised in Manchester predominantly, joined the military in 2015 as a RIMI soldier, became a PTI in 2018. In 2021, I went on my All Arms Commando course. At the end of 2021 post-course, I went home for a month, took a month off leave because I was snapped pretty much. So you did your all arms in 2021? did, yeah. So beginning of 2021, I went on. I was taken off at week six because I had tore my groin and had two stretch fractures in my femur. Excellent. Yeah, it squared me away. So I got, they call it PCRFs, like post-course rehabilitation. Went back on and then towards the end of that, I got a stand-up fail. So I came off, we had the commando test for the last four things and we came back off our final X. and essentially I got told that I was getting an admin fail. I think it was maybe because I was a week six rejoiner and they were just trying to screw me over, don't know, but yeah, it was a bit of a see-off. There was a few things that went on, but yeah, that is what it is. But yeah. It is what it is. It didn't matter, does it? So 2021, I took a full month off leave. I had a load of leave left because predominantly that full year had been spent on two courses and a rehabilitation period. And I went home for Christmas. I was coming back from Christmas and was involved in an RTC, which then eventually led... to my arm and being amputated in 2023. I spent from 2021 up until November last year trying to be retained. my whole reason for having my arm amputated was because I'd met a fellow amputee who was an imputee, promoted, done all that, Niff Naff and trivia. And I was kind of like, that's what I want to do. Unfortunately, didn't end up being a thing as the way the world is these days. There's little hurdles and hoops you've got to jump through. Yeah, I can't imagine. Yeah, but yeah. It's bad enough just... having a normal injury. Yeah right, yeah. I was going through the process of trying to stay in. My end goal was to be retained within the PT Corp and become an exercise rehabilitation instructor. My idea behind it was that I was fighting quite hard to stay in the career. I'd had my arm off to stay in the career and I was now going through a prosthesis pathway and to me I thought that would connect on other soldiers levels that were going through a WIS program a lot more than Joe Bloggs who's just done an ERI course and has no relation to injury himself. But unfortunately, Occupational Health never signed it off. ⁓ in 2024, I was introduced to the Armed Forces Parasnow Sports team. And essentially what they do is they take veterans that were injured or WIS personnel that still serving and they teach them how to do Nordic skiing, alpine skiing or snowboarding. So I went away three months after I had my arm amputated, I went to Colorado at the AFPST and they taught me how to Nordic ski with one arm, which was pretty alley. Gone from... hospital bed to the Rocky Mountains in three months was pretty cool switch. And yeah, I took to the snow, I went away for 10 days with them. And whilst I was over there, it was just so fortunate. Also it's fucking beautiful. Yeah, and beautiful. Yeah, literally. right. You're getting lost mesmerised Yeah, you're not hanging around Manchester. No, Old St. and it's Salisbury Plain. Yeah. So yeah, so I was out there and the head coach for GB Parabiathlon was out there at the same time. I managed to get a day with him where we went on the snow and he was doing a few bits and pieces and he said, you know, are you interested in doing this more frequently? So yeah, I'm open to doing anything at the minute. So I found myself going onto a GB development pathway. So at the end of 2024, I went away to Norway and jumped on my first two races. I classified for GB as a Fizz cross-country skier and I entered my first two events out of three. And then, yeah, as we went into 2025, I went back into rehab with DMRC, continuing my prosthesis pathway, and then found myself going on a second Colorado trip. On that trip, I was communicating a lot more with fellow injured people, becoming less demilitarised, you like, and connecting with injured individuals. prior to that... Becoming a normal bloke? Literally that, yeah. Whereas prior, I just kind of was so blinkered to this career that I didn't have any room for left and right. Yeah, we'll to a bit of that in a bit. Yeah. But, yeah, so... I went away on that trip and I just connected to everyone and I thought, you know, this is definitely what I want to do. For the first time in five years, there was a group of individuals that telling me that I could do something as opposed to telling me everything I could positive. It yeah, it is positive and it reflected on my mindset. And the one thing I always found was I would leave camp and go away skiing and feel like Dan Eden again. Now I would come back and find myself sitting in a room watching all my muckers go to work and it would be a... Do you know what mean? So, yeah, so I was supposed to be in until 2028. April 2028 was when I was supposed to get medically discharged and I asked to bring it forward, yeah, literally, know, tap forward, assist and move on. And yeah, so I found myself coming away from the military in November last year and now I'm on the pathway to hopefully one day become a Paralympian, but concurrently to that I'm trying to be an absolute laser beam and sleep for 24 hours. Yeah, and we'll get into all of that. But I'll take you back because I'm interested in what you were saying about losing the arm and then ⁓ not losing the arm but having the injury and then wanting to be retained because as you said you know a serving soldier who lost an arm. Yeah that's right. And I know people who stayed in for long time with missing limbs as well but also like when you did you see like Americans still serving with robotic legs and stuff like that and think why can't I do that? Exactly that and you know what the first person I actually saw was a guy called Nick Lavery yeah lost his leg as a green beret and then went and passed green beret selection all over again with a prosthetic leg and I thought ⁓ I want to be there I mean my prosthetic arm I've got two of them right but one of them is a mechanical one and I've got a KS1 barrel I've got a picatinny rail and all that on it as my forearm because I've seen somebody in the States with it and I thought well why don't we have a British variant of that you know you've got all these all these people on the other side of the water still doing kind of the same job role, know, still being a soldier, still representing their country and being patriotic. Why couldn't the Brits do the same? For anyone that doesn't explain what you just said about a rail on your arm, do you want to explain that? Yeah, so a KS-1 is a weapon system and a Picatinny rail is essentially the, you have a rail guard, it basically covers the barrel at the end, it's what you grip around to stop your hand from getting burnt when you're firing rounds essentially. And a Picatinny rail is basically the type of rail that you can attach attachments to. So that's what I've got as my arm. Wow. Yeah, and they wouldn't let you surf. Yeah, I know, right? You'd be rapid. ⁓ Straight into a firing position. Yeah, fair one. then, yeah, so that's difficult. yeah, mental health-wise, that's ridiculously difficult. And one thing I wanted to not check, but I've listened to you talk before. ⁓ what type of therapy and help did they actually give you? Because mentally, that is your identity, right? And I'm guessing you joined the military because you wanted to, and you wanted to get in as quick as you could. And then you formed that identity as the guy in the military in next minute that you all don't know whether one foot's out or one foot's in. Yeah, and I think that was the issue. I had the car crash and I remember being in hospital at the time and the welfare officer, a good friend of mine, popped in and all I was interested in was like, am I going to keep my career? Am I going to keep my career? And he was like, don't worry about that right now, focus on getting fixed and we'll talk about that when you're back. And that was all I was focused on from day one because I knew how severe it was and you knew what the consequences could be, you know. ⁓ And I think, you know, as you touched on there, like my reasons for joining the military were a little bit warped into in comparison to why some people might join the military. For me, it was more of an escape. It was more of a, this has been a bit not for me, this is for me. I kind Childhood trauma. Literally, yeah, essentially, yeah. Childhood trauma pushed me to join in the military. It was an escape from that. It was going to be a load of people that were my clique. You know, I was going to start associating myself with the people I want to be with. And when I found I was facing the, what's the word, the aspects of leaving that, it was scary. You it was scary. You know, not only had I joined the military with two arms because of a trauma piece, I was now leaving- the military with one arm because of a trauma piece. So both of them were kind of connecting the same thing up. And I think for me, when I went through the face where in 2023 and 2024 I tried killing myself and I didn't have the balls to go through with it, it was a tricky one because I knew that I was doing that because I didn't want to leave because I was fearful of what was going to face on the outside. then because I hadn't gone through with it, it was like, how do I then approach this in a conversation without trying to look like I'm trying to be somebody else? Oh, he's just trying to say that because... you know, mean, that's the crazy at the minute type thing. And it was quite a tricky position to find yourself in. You you don't want to leave, you don't want to be here, but equally you don't want to be honest with it because you don't know what you're to get faced with. ⁓ So yeah. Yeah, because it's all unknown, isn't it? Literally. Yeah. And from my experience, you could talk to one guy who's going to be hoofing, amazing and sort you out. You talk to one guy and he's going to seat you off. Yeah. And that was very It can be a complete It can. I had three people who really tried to look after me. One of them was an old staffer who'd later gone to L.A. and become a captain. He was my recovery officer. The other welfare officer I had when I was initially injured, Sean, Paul and Chris were the three. And they were all good blokes, know, all kind of, all gone up through the ranks. And yeah, it was strange because in the whole process, the people that were trying to retain me and put me back into a working role and get me back on as boots on the ground. with those three, with the people in NTP. Or has it seemed that the people that were trying to drive me out were the people that were a CV physiotherapist that was working for the MOD or worked up in APC Glasgow who hadn't had eyes on me. Or think it's not possible. Literally, yeah. I mean, you've got somebody that's never met you before, you know, they don't know who you are. With Chris, for instance, he was my staffie when I first joined into my first unit, so he knew me from day dot. Yeah. And you personally know someone that's different, because you know what their abilities are, you're clearly like a fit dude as well. Yeah, it's just fucking hard, isn't it? Yeah, it is, and you know, it is what it is at the end of the day. mean, that's, that's, And in the end, you're the one that pulled the pin to leave anyway. Yeah. And know you got an extension, didn't you? Yeah, I did. Because they were trying to bust you out. Trying to me out three months after I had my arm amputated. Yeah, so you've left that shit. But what I was getting at with the therapy was what did they offer you to actually help you? Because it's identity issues, isn't it? Yeah. It's not the... And I could be wrong, but probably the car crash isn't actually the traumatic thing. That's probably topped your glass out and caused it that actually your glass was already like three quarters full before you probably even joined. Yeah, right. And I think... So in 2024, when I tried killing myself again, I ended up having an honest conversation with my recovery officer and just telling him where I was at, what I tried doing. he originally did a referral to DCMH. What's DCMH? So DCMH is a mental health, it's sort of defence mental health. Okay. So what they would have done is they would have done a referral for that and then I would have found myself going under whatever that would have been. I didn't end up going through DCMH because I think it was about three weeks after that conversation I found myself going back into Stanford Hall on a complex trauma program with therapy attached so they call it PWS which is Personnel Welfare Services. ⁓ I went in there and I think was at DMRC for about six months and kind of on the bounce every week. I had one session with a therapist. where we'd go in there, we'd have a conversation, we did all sorts. I was going to ask you what type, do you know what type, most people don't have. So I don't know the name of it, but I know we were talking a lot, she went through everything. So essentially what we're talking about today, we through it. And then there was a stage where we had like a light, and you had to follow a light going EMDR, that's what I'm trying to finish off training in at moment. Yeah, so they were the two that we went through. And I finished the six month period and she said to me, know, it's a short period of time to go through therapy, but she thinks her thesis is. She thought I had PTSD from my childhood. Nothing to do with the accident. She said, the accident and the reason for you trying to stay in, yeah, is because essentially that's like a family thing. You've gone through a childhood where you've always tried to fit in, where you've always tried to please and be accepted. That's where that personality trait with the military and the whole rehab process came And also, this is the important thing, it's what's made you good soldier as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you want to. Yeah. Please and do well. Correct. And I had a driver, right? I had a booster behind me that was keeping me in because for me joining, I had a comparison. know, joining was a gold standard for me. know, going away, deploying, being around other people that have gone through that selection process to join. That means that I'm with a click, right? You're shrinking your community of people. So like you're in the army. Great. That's one thing. You become a Remy Soldier, boom, that's another thing. Then you become a PTI, boom, that's another thing. Then you post it to Tidworth, boom, that's another thing. Before you know it, you've gone from this whole big world to a niche type of person. And they were my people. And I think that's why I was so scared of leaving again, because my comparison to Civvy Street was childhood trauma. So it's like, well, I've joined this for these reasons, and now I'm going back to that. And that's why therapy is important, because what is back here? in the past isn't a reality here, but you feel like it is and you get the body response of, if I'm a civvy, then I'm going to be like this again. And that's the problem. But obviously that's working it out. I'm glad that they put you through some kind of therapy. I'm a big advocate of EMDR, which is eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing. I had it, so I had really bad flashbacks and night terrors just from the incidences that I won my medal for. And that just got me over the hump to then be able to improve myself. But before that I couldn't really do a lot. So I really rate it. It does, yeah. And I think the more we can have conversations like this and people can see. Because there's a difference between your chain of command turning around and saying, well, I think you need this. and there's a difference between skipping forward two years and having a conversation with somebody else who's gone through the same Or somebody who's had it and somebody who actually trains in it. And also understands it from your perspective and not behind a spreadsheet. Correct. Correct, yeah, massive. Yeah. Yeah. So, Yeah, so before, and before we've said we don't want to go, we don't want to go through the past because the reason you're here, like we said, is because you told me, you were like, ⁓ Dan, I'm Dan. And I'm doing a 24-hour Nordic skiing. I had just, maybe I was a month or so after finishing the Arctic Spine. And I was like, fucking fair one, this sounds good. Someone I actually want to talk to. So do you want to walk us through a bit about the 24 hour challenge and how you're going about it and then we can have a good chat about skin. cool. So I left Tidworth in September and I moved to Cornwall with a partner and that was then MD'd in November. So that was my umbilical cord gone. Between November and May this year, I had a buffering period. So I had left, but the Olympics was on, so everyone, like Paralympics, they were on, so the team and the coaches, if you like, were away focusing on Scott Meena, who's a person who I've done skiing with. So there was a buffering period where I needed to maintain myself. So after Christmas, I was sat, I was sinking, know. got bit of waiting time until skiing kicks off, what can I do? So literally, straight on Google, 24 hour Nordic ski came up with this fellow from Finland who'd done this 24 hour ski and he'd got something ridiculous. I think it was like 470 kilometres. It's horrendous. it's stinking. I've had a look, So I was like, all right, I give that a bash. 24 hour Nordic ski with a disability, nothing. Yeah. Came up with same person again and then says at the bottom, but it has never been done completely by someone with a disability. So was like... there we go, that's the money shot. So I didn't have social media at the time, so I was like, right, well I'm gonna have to get that back, because if I want to do this, I can market it for free essentially. Social media and Instagram now is like the billboard that you used to drive past as a kid, So it's great for advertisement. So I went on there and I put it up and then I said I wanted to support veteran brands. So all the veterans started, the veteran community started leaning in quite heavily and I got a lot of support. And essentially what the Guinness World Record was for that period of time was me. being able to bridge the gap with my training. It was me being able to connect with the community of people I wanted to do, inspire other people into and get people that were my type of person. And then equally I wanted to do something that was going to support the AFST because if I hadn't been for them putting their time into me for the previous two years, I wouldn't have been where I was at that very moment in time. So yeah, so I got in touch with all these different people, put an application in for Guinness World Records and yeah. I set out to become the first person with a disability to continuously knowledge ski for 24 hours. ⁓ So I've got loads of questions. Yeah, fire away. Right, so when is it? So at the minute, interesting question. So there was three dates we're looking at. Originally I booked it for January in Besanze, but then we started talking about the Alps. Besanze is in France. yeah, Besanze in France was the first one for January. Then we backdraft. The infantry Nordic and the AFPST ⁓ potentially going out to Idra in Sweden between November and December, so that was another time to look. However, I've recently just been accepted to start racing in biathlon. So December and January now is quite saturated with races. So we threw in March as an idea, which I've got a conversation with them all on the 6th July about. And I would argue potentially better skiing conditions. Correct. March, Norway, and there's a, think it's a biathloper, I think it's called. It's basically a marathon ski. So there's a lot of people that are going to go there that are into the same sport as me. Probably doing it able-bodied, who knows. But then I want to try and latch onto that. because you can get towed around. Literally, yeah, right? So, hook myself up. Yeah, yeah, but you need all the advantage you can get, right? Yeah, so at the minute, March is looking like the more desirable one because there's a 26.2-mile loop that's going to be marked out. There's going to be a lot of people there. So for awareness, that's going to be huge. For fundraising, that's going to be huge. ⁓ And yeah, for support, that's going to be huge. So at the minute, they're the three. ⁓ I hope March comes into play and is locked in, but we'll see next month. So the course is really important. So what's the elevation on the course over 26 miles? ⁓ So for the biathlon pet one, I'm not too sure yet. I've not looked at the details, but all I know is that... So for Idra in Sweden, when we were looking at that, it was going to be a 5 or a 10k loop and it was going to be flat. Because I didn't want to do it on a biathlon track because you would have been uphill one minute, downhill the next and doing that over the course of 24 hours was hard to catch up. You're going to slow yourself down, speed yourself up. With weather conditions, as it drops through the night, if it starts getting icy and you haven't got a piece to go in around, you come downhill on a corner and there's ice there, you've got all sorts of things that come into play, things that nobody else would think about. So the flatter it could be, the more maintained it could be, the better. So yeah, the flatter it can be, the better. Yeah, fair. And then, so training-wise, what you're doing to train for 24 hours. So when I reached out to veteran owned businesses, one of the first ones that got in fact, the first one that got in touch with me was the Catalyst Project. So the guy that runs with that is a guy called Dean Hammond. The Catalyst Project. Catalyst Project, yeah. So Dean is a serving member of the PT Core, the RAPTC. I've known him, so he was actually at the PT School when I was going through my All Arms Potential course, PTI course, ⁓ And he reached out and he was like, listen, we want to support you. He said, I've... ⁓ listen to what it is that you're saying you want to do. He said, and I'm all for it. He says, let me know what I can support you with and we'll do it. So, so the catalyst projects are leading with my training. ⁓ so they program me. ⁓ so I'm on a pretty much a six day, six day week of training. ⁓ and that's a lot of aerobic stuff. ⁓ there's a lot of lower strength, upper strength, midline work, unilateral training. a single leg balance and coordination. And they do all that. But on top of that, they then got a guy called, ⁓ Adam Glover, who does my nutrition. And yeah, and then they have a whole psychiatric sort of support network as well. So they'll talk to you about sports psychology and how to focus on honing basically on the event. I think I'm a bit ADHD. I'm like, yeah, 24 hours ski. And then I'm thinking, yeah, but I want to do this next year. And I'm just sound up for like a red on ultra marathon next year. also the world's opened up to you, right? Correct. Yeah. So in a way, you were in a closed, what sounds like pretty shit situation. Yeah. And now Yeah, you're a para-athlete, but the world's actually opened up to you, isn't it? There's so many things, and I think going through that process of becoming an amputee, the first thing I wanted to do was see what I was still capable of doing. I didn't care what it was, whether it was high rocks, whether it was crossfit, whether it was obstacle course, going to the gym, lifting and deadlift, whatever it was, I wanted to do it. And it just so happened to be that skiing was the first thing that took off for me. So yeah, I'm a massive advocate of like don't blink yourself to one thing because from my aspect, I'd already done that with a military career and I'd realised how dangerous I suppose it can be but also how negative blinking yourself to one thing can be. So I like to keep my options open. Yeah, skiing is priority numero uno. That doesn't mean that there's not a two, three, four, five all the way underneath it. Do you know Darren Edwards? I don't know him personally but I've heard of him, yeah. Yeah, so he's an absolute legend. I had him on here. and he does sit skiing. And he's talking about, did you see what Aldo Kane and Jason Fox and that did? They did, I can't remember the name of it, was like Lapland Ultra or one of the Ultras in the Arctic, they did it on skis. I think it's for, it was the same distance as what I did, 293 miles, but it quite a lot flatter. ⁓ And he's talking about doing something like that. they did that as part of a charity thing. It looked like an absolute hangout. It was on Channel 4. But he's talking about doing that as well. Right, okay. And he's got a foundation, redefining impossible foundation, I don't know. I think I've heard of that. Yeah. And he takes people and do things, people that have been injured and stuff like that. you should definitely talk to him. Yeah, I will. Yeah. Because... people actually reached out to me and said to me about trying to get in touch with him. Yeah. problem again with Instagram is I might have to try get direct calls with him because with Instagram you get so saturated with messages. That's problem. Yeah. No, know him. He's a great guy. He's just one of them that's like a ball of fire, super positive. He dragged himself up my stairs with his wheelchair. There you go. He's that guy. I was just like blown away. know when you meet someone you're like, fuck me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I walk in with a green T. What have I got to moment? But stuff like that I think is going to suit you down to the ground. Because you've got, like if you're fit enough to take on something like that, then it's a challenge like that. Have you thought about longer events in the future? Yeah, so it's like a, what's it called, it's like a... Putting myself out there. I actually had a thought the other day. wanted to do, I want to do a longer event, but I want to do another 24 hour challenge, but I want to do the next one not skiing related. So this is, don't know what they call it when it's like, you know, when you're about to release some sort of new information. They say, don't know, like a spoiler alert. Yeah, yeah. So I want to be the first person to go from Lanzander to John O'Groats with a dummy that weighs the same as me. Essentially reflecting on the sense that it's about carrying the... carrying the weight on you, carrying that burden. So I looked at it nobody's ever done it from Lanzon to John O'Groome. I'm not surprised. So yeah, I wanna try and get that in there at some point, which again, it'll be a lot of training. See, I wanna run it. Right, okay. Quite fast. Yeah. But I'm not interested in carrying it down. I think that's cool though. Yeah, yeah. I that's horrendous. Yeah, it's horrendous. Fair play to you. Yeah, so I wanna try and do that for one of the, maybe combat stress or something. Yeah. Because I think what it'll do is it has a bit of, is it a metaphor? where it is like I'm carrying that burden and I want to show, if I'm showing it to the world, I want to show that it's okay to show off that burden and express it to people because it's only when you do that people like Combat Stress or whoever it is can then help you and support you. Yeah. But the big question is why are you doing it though? Because I want to share my story. I want to share how I went through that process. I want to be open again. You can look at it in the sense that I'm now expressing that I'm still able to move forward while still... going through what I went through. I went through 2023 trying to kill myself, 2024 trying to kill myself. I had sepsis four times in 2024. I had all these odds going against me. And yet I'm here today with the biggest smile on my face, doing stuff like this, connecting with other individuals. And if I can give people an A to Z roadmap on, if you do feel like you're here, you have still got the opportunity to get to Z. You just need to allow yourself to go through B, C, D and E to get Yeah, the hard thing is, that when you're at your shittest, and when you're at your shittest. That is the change point, right? You just can't see it. No, and you have to, believe that you, for me, I had to be in the shittest possible situation for me to go, I definitely, don't want to be, I want to try and do something now, like what can we do? And then you start going from this little bubble in a room, watching out your window, seeing muckers going to work in MTP, so well, I can't do that, so what can I do? And that, yeah, it took me to hit rock, rock bottom for me to want to become Dan Eden again. The worst things that have happened to me. been the reasons I'm sitting here with you now. The reasons I do big things. The reasons I climb mountains. It's all linked. And without it, maybe I would have ended up down that road anyway. But I would question whether I would finish the Arctic spine without knowing, well, life's been shitter before. And I chose to be here. And the mates are lost. Don't get to do this. And I'm really lucky to be... know, hallucinating, trudging my way through the Arctic. Yeah, right, yeah. I think people, I mean, everyone's on a case by case basis, but I think each to their own in the sense of what you determine is hard is determined as hard. Nobody can like put a marker on what they deem as hard, right? But once you've been through that hard place, I'll be skiing on that 24 hour challenge and I know, I can guarantee when I get past the four hour mark and I know I've got 20 hours left, I'm going to be like, this is going to be a gris. isn't gonna be as much of a grizz as it was to sit in a room for five years watching people do a job that I wanted to do. Oh yeah, horrendous. That's hard. Do you know how I look at it? So I have questions about you doing long stuff and what, because I've done a lot of things that take a long time. Yeah. And I say this to Hannah a lot, like it's just a day, mate. Yeah, It's just one day. Just one day. Yeah. it's literally, it's just one day and it's, yeah, it's a hangout, but. I tell you what, ends, it? Yeah, it does, it does. Yeah, so what's the longest stuff you've done so far? What distance-wise are we talking? On skis, or in general? Let's go skis first and then go in general after. So in skis, I've done half marathon. Okay. Yeah, I was in Sweden and I had a day where essentially I could train myself, so thought, fuck it, I'm gonna go out and just ski for 21k, why not? So I did 21k. It wasn't a gris, it was on a biathlon loop. But overall, longest thing I've ever done, did, I mean, again, it's less than a day. So it depends here. So I did 13 days of doing 13 half marathons when I had all four limbs. I did, you know, finished one half marathon one day, do another one the next day for 13 days. And then before that, another two 24 hour challenges. So I did 24 hours of CrossFit, which was a ward on the hour every hour. CrossFit, that? Yeah, so was basically within the regiment. So when I was attached to 1st Regiment Roll Horse Artillery we had a day where basically gym staff and a few other people just did 24 hours of a workout on the hour every hour for 24 hours. Slept in the gym, well, say slept, lay down for 10 minutes in the gym and then got straight back to it. And then I also did another thing at the same unit where I did 24 hours of going up and down Pennyfam with a casualty dummy. And as a team of fours we had a stretcher, we just went to top and back down. But over the course of a... full 24 hour period, this ski will be the first thing I've done for that continuous 24 hours with no breathing space. So everything on this 24 hour ski, I want to be done as fast as possible. So when your skis run out of wax and you need to change skis, be like an F1 pickery, I want to come in and kick them off, get the next ones off, and then go again. have them ready for when you... Hydration, camelback system. ski with two other blokes ideally. If a pole snaps, boom, here's a pole. If you've run out of water, boom, here's a camel bar. Especially if it's a 26 mile loop. Yeah, well it might not necessarily be the 26 mile loop. No, but if it is, then it's more important to have someone there. yeah, 100%. But equally the way I want it set up is that at every loop, it always connects to itself again and I want there to be a HQ element there so that's where everyone else will be, support crews ready to go. Yeah, so you're not cuffing it mate? I'm not cuffing it, no definitely not. At the start it was very much a case of, oh I want to do a Guinness World Record for a 24 hour ski and I was like, boom, just to do it. Yeah, just put everything out there. I'm a big believer, you as soon as I put it out there to people, that's when people want to support, the date and the location, it's still being determined. But there's so much thinking behind me now that getting the date and the location is the last of our problems. So with Nordic skiing, and I know this because my Nordic skiing isn't fantastic because I've done fuck all. So obviously I've done some quite big stuff, but the skis are behind me. I only use them for 80 miles of the Arctic spine. And then I switched to a pair of Innovate boots and just stomped it out for 200 miles, which wasn't ideal. And if I was to do it again, which I do plan on doing again, ⁓ I would do it fully on skis. So I need to train more on skis. But I also know when you're doing that kind of distance a day, like in the last 24 hours I did 80, just over 80k in the last 24 hours, dragging 40 kilos up. It was like 1500 or 2000 meters of elevation in the last day. The only reason I got through that... was because of the strength work I do in my legs. And the strength work I was doing was just like running heels. So you doing much running. Yeah, so I have running programmed in. Lower strength wise and lower ability, shall we say, is done predominantly through the gym. So unilateral stuff, we do a lot of single leg RDLs. We do a lot of single leg split squats. do a lot of single leg balance drills, coordination, isometric holds, lot of hip stuff. So within Nordic skiing you've got two variants of skiing technique. You've got classic skiing and you've got skate skiing. What I'm trying to do is skate skiing. Yeah, so you get more momentum. Correct. Yeah, so a lot of that is driving through the hips. So there's a lot of training that needs to be done in the ground. Or on the ground, should I say. Cabeat to that. Techniques. Correct, yeah. Caveats of that, there's also roller skiing that you can do. So roller skis are essentially a Nordic ski, slightly shorter, with a wheel at the front and a wheel at the rear. And you just go and throw yourself down a tarmac road as fast as you can if you really want to. But yeah, I try to do as much as I can in the gym because I've already lost one arm and I don't fancy losing another one on an A-road. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that'd be pretty shit wouldn't it? No, yeah. So yeah, so a lot of it is through the gym. A lot of it, you know... is done through strength work. And you're young. And I'm young, yeah, yeah I am, yeah. So I've got age on my side. Yeah, I'm like sitting here with like a bad back. Yeah. in tender nights in my Is there my frame in the background? Huh? Is there my frame in the Yeah, I've seen you carrying all the things that we you know, I got 220 mile racing. Yeah. Just over a month. Wow. How you feeling about that? I'm looking forward to it actually. I'm not looking forward to it being hot. No. And if it is hot. it's gonna be a struggle. Yeah, it will. So I'm just basically trying to get my back okay. Yeah. I'm feeling... I'm positive I can do it. I would love to race it, but I don't think that's gonna be an option. Okay. It's gonna be a case of getting through it. ⁓ Which, yeah. But I'll start off very slow, stay ahead of the cutoffs, and then if I feel good at halfway... difficult to feel good at halfway after a hundred odd miles, then I'll push on. yeah. Take it as it comes. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen a few videos recently where you've been getting out, you've been getting a lot of running back in the bag, haven't you? So. Yeah. I'm not going mad on the mileage though, just because mentally I'm pretty good. Yeah. But I can overdo it on the miles before. More risk of injuring myself beforehand. I'm better off being fresher and less injured at the start than I am overdoing the mileage because it's actually really slow. It's more about your body being all right than it is about your legs being fast. enough. Yeah, I'm not going to be pushing any pace, like at 220 miles. I think there's just under 8,000 meters of elevation. It's not crazy for 200 of miles, but it's also... It's still 7,800 metres of elevation. Is that a lot of Zone 2 stuff then? Yeah, so in this heat and now it's been hot, as you can feel. I've been trying... So a week or so ago, I went out for a run, I did 10k and my heart rate was like 160. And that was at 6 minute k's, which is very steady for me. And I was like, fucking hell, but I went out for one, not yesterday, the day before, and my heart rate, went 540 per kilometre, and my heart rate was at 130. So quite quickly you adapt, and that's what I need. And that's the important thing for me, it's getting my body adapted. It's exactly the same as, the reason I have the hypoxic trainer for altitude training is because my body does not adapt to altitude. I really need to get my body going before I get in that. in that environment. The only environment I really thrive in is the fucking cold environment. Yeah, right. Same here. Yeah. I've literally was walking out the hotel earlier on and she was saying, it's red hot at the minute, isn't it? was like, yeah, it's like, give me snow and cold any day. Yeah. Or cold water surfing. I love surfing because then you're just in the water. Constantly. Yeah. Anything you want to add about your skiing? ⁓ I mean, yeah, so later on this year, I start racing GB by Athlon. So I'll be representing the country at Biathlon now. Do you want to explain what Biathlon is? I know exactly what is. So Nordic skiing is a general name for it. Underneath it you've got classic skiing or cross-country skiing. On the other side you've got Biathlon. Within cross-country skiing you've got two variants. You've got skate and you've got classic. And you just do that and that is that. On the other side you've got Biathlon and that is predominantly skate. and you have a rifle on your back. ⁓ Not as a para-athlete, but in the general rule of biathlon, what it is, you would ski with a biathlon rifle on your back. Say for instance, it was a 10k race, you would come in, say you do a two and a half k loop, come in and you would have a range, you'd go through your range number and you've got five targets in front of you. Rifle off, hit five targets, perfect. If you miss, I think it's a 15 second penalty time, added onto your overall time. some races they have a penalty loop. Okay, you could go a whole loop? Yeah, could go, well not a whole loop, so it could be like 150 metres. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you would repeat that. Sometimes the races go from being prone, which is lying on the floor and shooting, to standing, which I would say was usually more difficult to do just because of the way you have to position yourself. Of course. But yeah, so that's what biathlon is. And what rifles are they? 2-2? So actually, I think they are maybe within the normal scheme, but for me, they're talking about bringing laser rifles in because they're easy to travel abroad with. You don't have to register at all. You don't have to worry about carrying the tankers with you to refill them up. So for para-athletes, when I start racing this year, the way we work it is we don't ski with the rifle on our back. It stays on the range and the coach will... have a mag bombed up so it'll have ammunition in there and they will put the magazine in and it'll be lay there waiting for you on a range map. Yeah and you just get down behind it. Correct, yes. In the shoulder. Tap forward, assist, shoot your five targets, lay back down and then you'll a few go and carry on doing your thing. If they do the laser rifles obviously even easier, just laying there. doesn't have to do anything. Coach can just focus on you and being a coach, not a bod. 25 metre range. ⁓ For para athletes, so on the one I did last year, again this is only me just coming into it, I did an IBU camp which was a roller ski camp and I think it was a 10 metre for para. I think it's 25 or 50 metres ⁓ for a normal able-bodied individual. That's exciting though. It is and I enjoy it. again, it is. And the thing for me with the skiing, one of the biggest things that helped me want to do it was the transition piece. So yes, I was leaving the military, but essentially to me, skiing is still taking some of the attributes that a soldier would have. I would have, you wear a uniform when you ski, you've got a Union Jack flag on the side of it that you would have when you were an MTP, you get to travel the world. For me, my coach is ex-oil artillery, so I've still got a bit of connection there, a bit of bounce. And you get to go and again, introduce yourself into a niche type of person. mean, arguably now it's even neater because I'm not the only one I injured. but I'm doing a sport like Nordic skiing, again is already quite a close-knit sport as it is. yeah, for me the transition from the military to that was easy because it had a lot of ⁓ transitional skills that I wanted to get. Nice people too. Correct, yeah, very nice. Very fit, very all on the fitness. It helped me being around people like that. Back in the day I smoked, know, go out drinking. And when I started getting into this sport... and started engulfing myself in that type of individual that it's up to be in that sport. I was like, well, I need to start getting the attributes of somebody that does this sport then, know, so stop smoking, you know, maybe have a drink every now and again on a special occasion. But for the main part, I don't drink throughout the year. I'm going to tell you something that I've been talking to the winner of the Arctic Spine about recently. OK. So there's a guy called Bjorn. Yeah. so me and him wore masks, right, when we did it. and we were the only two with masks and we were only two that finished. And the reason, it's not the reason, I was wearing a mask, I'd get chest infections in the cold quite easily. I got it on day one, I didn't wear the mask. It was a lot warmer the first day. I got a chest infection straight away. Now the reason he wears a mask is because he says everyone he knows all have got asthma. And he's like, he's a fantastic... Nordic skier and he does long distances and all his mates are fantastic and they've all competed they've all done biathlons and stuff and they all got asthma as they're older and that's why they're all starting to wear these masks when they train in cold weather and stuff because apparently it's just something worth noting if you're out in the cold all the time and you're training all the time they are saying you should be wearing a mask right pretty much all the time yeah I'm just I'm just Throwing it out. It makes sense because to be fair, when I've been doing training camps, you see people training with these masks and essentially what it does is protect you along from breathing in sharp cold air. But the amount of people that have now got asthma who are like, know, most of these people, their VO2 max is like in the 80s and 90s, like they're unreal, but they've got asthma and they're struggling. So it's just something worth noting. Because when I was younger, I didn't... and just shit. Yeah right. I definitely should have. Yeah yeah I mean my one routine when I first joined was a coffee and a fag before going running a mile and a half. you are classic military. Yeah and then were you thinking about doing the Invictus games as well? Yeah so in 2029 I believe it is they I think they've done one now so they introduced Winter Invictus. I think it might have been last year or the year before. And biathlon and skiing, Nordic skiing is in that. Now I wanted to, or I want to, to get myself onto the Invictus Games in 2029. My sort of long-term plan, if you like, after the, you know, the Guinness World Record is just a stocking filler really. The main goal is to do this sport full-time, is to become a full-time biathlete and represent the country again in the means that I can. Get beasted. And my long-term goals are to get into the Invictus Games and to get into the Paralympics. That's my only amazing. And the way you're going, I can't see why you wouldn't. I hope it pays off. I'm trying to do everything I can to align myself to what I want to do. As you would do when you were in the military, you have a one-year, two-year, four-year plan. I've got like an eight, 10 year plan at the minute of what I want to do. I've got, you know, what I want to enter. Yeah. And who knows what direction it would go in, but it's good to at least have like a target and what you want to do. Correct. Yeah. And mean, luckily now I know how many people can ski injured. you know, if something else happens between eight to 10 years and I can at least know I can ski with no arms. I mean, I mean, and this is my point, like Darren Edwards is, and he's paraplegic from chest down. Yeah. And that man's still out there like slugging it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I mean, it's absolutely mental. So I just wanted to, I've got a few questions for you. What's one thing about your journey that you've gone on, which is amazing and you're doing fantastic, but is actually still really hard? Being out of the army. Yeah. I would say, yeah. It's funny because I think about this quite often and I think if somebody was to ask me, what would I say? and I genuinely, genuinely believe that if I could join the army tomorrow with one arm, I would sacrifice everything that I'm lining up right now to go back in. Because I'm still passionate about it, but I think if I was to be sensible about it, I think that's probably, but again, touching back on the childhood, I think the arm is like that missing father to me that you always want to aspire to. want to have a connection with. warm hug. It is, yeah. And I think that's what it still might be, but I think it almost feels like I was robbed of what I wanted to get. So I think my head is maybe still coming to terms with it. did what you want to get, is that just, is that actually real? What you wanted to get out of the army? Because does that actually exist? I mean, there are people who get retained with injuries like mine. There's not anybody that does the job that I wanted to do as an ERI. What's an ERI? ERI is an Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor. So when you're injured, you have an ERI designated to you to take you through your program. Annoyingly, that. sounds like you would have been perfect. Yeah, right. So yeah, mean... And like a proper role model too. Yeah, and that's what I wanted. What you're moaning about. Yeah, literally. What's your excuse? And that's the way I lined up. you know, I had this vision. I think you find yourself fantasising quite a lot when you're injured and you're kind of stuck in this little dark space. I always had this one vision of me being, you know, past PT course selection, past the ERI course, being back in DMRC, white vest on, prosthetic arm hanging there, seeing somebody that's just had a road traffic collision. thinking his life's ruined and I can be like, have you heard of this charity? Did you know you can audit scare with one arm? Have you been told about this with your weapons handling test? Did you know you can get one of these through the military? Did you know you could potentially be like me? Because in the army, nobody's like that. Nobody, you know, all these injured people are put off into subcategories, right, and they're kind of left and they either manage to get back into a career and they just level peg it and mince their way through to a 22 year point or they're pushed out. And I think for me, I felt very much like I was pushed out and had I been given the opportunity to stay, I wouldn't have been that mincer that stays in for 22 years sitting behind a desk. I would have been trying to do everything that I possibly could to still tick those boxes. Yeah. But I'm going to say something to you, Dan, that I think you're going to end up doing that anyway. Quite potentially, yeah. I'm pretty sure you Yeah. Yeah. And why does it need to be in the military? Yeah. And I'll also argue you're probably going to have more impact outside the military than you are in. because it's too restrictive. Whereas if you're all given, you're already been a PTI, right? You've got ambition. You're like a ball of fire. You're going to have experience doing massive things, world records, all kinds of stuff. So why not just do it for everyone? Why does it have to be just people in the military? In the military, yeah. And that's something that I'm broadening my horizons to at the moment. I was having a discussion about this about... what I want to get out doing this Guinness World Record and ultimately how I want that to help other people and you know, yeah there is the whole injured perspective, there is the whole military charity perspective but a lot of people have said to me, know, well why can't your story connect with people that are civvies as well? You joined and the person you are today is because of, because of civvy street. There's people that don't join the military, there's people that are still stuck in those dark places that have never, have never been in MTP. Why don't you try and connect with them and show them what's possible as well? And I think it's something that I'm... gradually trying to wedge myself to do. I think the best thing, it's hard to know, right, in hindsight it's fantastic. But I'm pretty sure in the future you're going to look back and say the best thing I did was leave the military and then you've gone on to actually help loads of people. And I don't know whether you know this and I'll hark on about it, but service will be the end of your like therapy journey. When you... are helping people, which you already are by the way. By doing what you're doing, there's already young people and people that are injured will be like, if he can do that, I can do it. You're already doing it, but it will cement it in the future and you'll be like, shit, I've actually become the person I wanted to. And all those identity things that you think are important, like being in the army, won't be in the future. You'll just be like, ⁓ fuck, I never needed to be that person, I already am this person. I think it's really exciting and I think... ⁓ I've just seen it with Darren Edwards as well. Like he is literally helping people in a way that he can't believe he's doing it. He would have said the same. He was going into the military. He was doing SAS reserves and got injured whilst doing it. And he's like, ⁓ I just wanted to be in the military. But actually, and it's horrendous what's happened to him, but his life is like he loves his life now. All because of what happened. So I think... ⁓ Yeah, I can really see you because you're a PTI and you're a good PTI and you clearly like coaching people. I can just see you're just going to do massive things later on, even after you've been the athlete. Yeah, yeah. Again, I think maybe I'm still, I mean, it was only what? It's not Seven months ago. Seven months ago, I You're in the jerk. Still in it, yeah. So I think maybe skip forward five, six years, probably be a different story, but I think... For now, I'm still adjusting to what CIVI Street is and what it's going to look like for me. But what I do know is that the first group of people that told me I could do something, I've gone on to do that. And now want to allow other people to go through that same experience that I did. Yeah, you're in the perfect place. What things did you change to become what I call you? You're basically professional athlete, right? Yeah, let's go. Yeah, are. International. Yeah, so do your drink. I don't drink really, no. I mean, had one beer for the first time in 11 months the other day. Yeah, so not a lot there. No, not a lot. I was at the beach, we had summer salsa, so was there with my partner and there's where I live, there's a... I suppose it's a mental health group, really. We have a sea dip every Wednesday and Sunday where the lads all meet up and we go and jump in the sea and have a Yeah, I've seen it. Yeah, and yeah, I had a beer there with the guys and then that's it. Yeah. But apart from that, no. Yeah, and... You've got a nutritionist, haven't you? I have, yes. So all my macros and stuff have worked out. We're currently honing in on our fueling strategy for it. So we've tried loads of different carbohydrate mixes now to see which works and which works when I'm training. And we're closing in on what it is that works and getting that carbohydrate strategy right. Only because I'm interested in it. Have you had like sweat rate testing and salt testing and all Not yet. I am... Go get it done, mate. No. Don't get it do get it done. Yeah, Yeah, so I'm supposed to be, I was supposed to be going down to, to pool next month actually to get it all done, latte threshold, VO2 max testing. And yeah, I think a few people have said that the data analysis that you get from it is, is, is useful, let's say. Yeah, because for me, and it bores Hannah to death because all she hears about is me being a salty thwatter, but I, I was struggling in the heat and it turns out I needed five times the amount of sodium I was actually taking. So I was so far off, like it was wild. When he took my test he was like, ⁓ that must be wrong, let's do it again. And then took it again and he's like, ⁓ no, you're like the saltiest sweater I've ever seen. And now that has adapted everything I do just by going for that one test. And I had lactic... threshold test, VO2 max, all of that. The other thing is that you learn about your perceived exertion. So how far you can push yourself when you think you're okay, but medically you're not. And mine's like really bad. So I can push and push and push and I'm like, I've already blown myself up. So I'll find out later on down the line, but I need to be really careful because when I'm 15 and you're like... that's all you can do. I think I'm at like a 10. Right, okay. So it's almost like... I'll get myself into trouble. Yeah, it sounds a bit like the dehydration thing, don't it? Where they say if you're you're already dehydrated. You're already dehydrated, yeah. So I just think testing, especially for the level you're doing stuff, and especially for a 24-hour challenge is really important. Yeah, yeah. I definitely think since you just touched on what that is, then I think it would definitely be something to get done. Yeah. I noticed it the other day, went skiing. I had a two and a half hour ski on the ski erg. and the gym I do it in, was absolutely sweltering. Now I've just come back from Spain, so I thought I'd probably be fine now. I'm acclimatised to it almost, like I'm used to training in the heat, but I found that session a struggle. So it might be worth me having something done like that, because it could be an extra couple of scoops of electrolytes a day and it might square me away more than I think it does. Yeah, well, yeah, it's just the specific mix. they, you know, I use precision hydration drinking just because it's set up for it. But the drink I have is like, super strong, but you wouldn't know to buy that unless you've had it. It makes a big, huge difference. It's a difference between running 20 miles and running 200 miles. Yeah, or finishing the event and not finishing the event. Yeah, and that. Yeah. Yeah. So, interesting. What is one thing that you've changed that's had the biggest impact on your life? My openness. think ⁓ I went through a childhood where I kept everything to myself. I joined the military and I kept everything to myself. I went through an amputation and I kept how I felt to myself. I actually had my arm when I was in hospital after my accident. I was in hospital for six weeks and didn't tell my parents. I went through hospital. So low because I didn't want to worry them. I was down in Southampton and they were up in Manchester. I went through the whole process of your arms are damaged to... next day your arm might actually need to be amputated because of sepsis and then two days later your arms are right again now and that was a head fuck for me so I I don't want to put that on my mum so yeah so I went through the whole hospital process without telling my parents until I got him out of hospital. Went through the dark stages without being open and it wasn't until I that flick, or flick that switch should I say, get my words right, that the world's just been a much better place you know I... went through the injury process, connected with, you know, even the APST. I went on the first trip, kept myself to myself, didn't want to associate myself That's the ski chariot. Yeah, the ski chariot. Didn't want to associate myself with anybody that was injured, not because I didn't like him, but because I felt like somebody was watching me somewhere, making sure that I was still committed to the journey that I was going on. And I thought as soon as I started latching onto these injured individuals, kind of stoked the fire. Went on the next trip, you know, I met my partner on that trip, you know, because I had a conversation. I met some of my closest friends that I still keep in touch with today. In fact, arguably. I keep in touch with more people that are injured now from the military than I do my mates that still in, which says a lot. Just because there's more of a connection and a relation there. And that all stemmed. We'll say you've changed. Correct, yeah. By being open, by accepting the circumstance, know, awareness of the situation, once that started ramping up and I was no longer scared, shall we say, of being open and admitting that I needed help, I think people see through you. And I think people know when you're struggling and I think as soon as you start opening that they go, you're ready now. Yeah, I genuinely think if you went, say in a year's time, if you went back in the military, I don't think it would be enough for you. No. No. I think there's too much open to you now that you can do and too much potential. I think the military would really limit you. Yeah, and I think it's hard, isn't it? People always say they want to do something when they're not doing it. doing your race and you were at mile 199, you're like, is stinking now. Right now you're thinking, yeah, I can't wait, it'd be amazing. And I think the army and the military in general can sometimes be the same. Right now, having this conversation with you, I would do anything to be back in kit, helping other people. I'm not bothered about the arm, I go in like I am. No, no, I get that, yeah. But, yeah, I think, know, but stick me back in there on a day when you're like on the ranges and you've got to dig out your weapon for two hours or whatever. Or you're getting a shit detail. Or it's hurry up and wait. Or no one's really doing anything because there's nothing going on. And you're like, well actually. It's grass is sometimes greener. But yeah, openness to it and just being honest about how I was feeling. Everyone knows me now. Everyone knows my story. Everyone knows what I've been through. Me and my partner, we know when somebody's struggling because we know each other. It's not like it is a facade. There's none of that. Well you're just you're just being the real version of you. Yeah, correct. The real Dan. Yeah. Yeah It's the same as guys who I've dealt with more guys who have had snags and issues. It isn't because of what happened, but say they've gone on tour and never fired a round. This is like Royal Marines, right? So we've trained as a Royal Marine, we're going to go and fight and they go to Afghan and then they don't get in the contact and they come back and they're like, life's over. It's like sometimes the thing they thought they wanted. But then I would always say, you I had a really busy tour, but I would always say be careful what you wish for. That thing, that wanting, like I wouldn't change anything, but I certainly wouldn't have said no to not having any contacts either because I lost loads of mates. So they say that, but the reality, you know, is just be, have gratitude for what you've actually got, what you're doing, what your future is looking like. you're in a fantastic position and be grateful that you're capable to do all this. Yeah, correct. There are people, you know, that come off a lot worse off. All these people that do go through with what I tried doing and don't get the opportunity to do what I'm doing, which is one of the things why I try to be open and push it out so much now because I do want people to know that it is all right to go through that place. If you feel like crap and you don't want to be in anymore, it's fine. That's normal. But taking yourself away from that and doing something positive. and maybe trying to influence people around you that are maybe going through the same thing. Because we won't know, right? You won't know sometimes whether your muck are left and right, if he's going through a hard time. You see it on the TV all the time, you know, that person that turns up to a football game all happy and positive, and then it goes on and it goes on, and then the next time it was the one that was quiet that's still there and the person that was bubbly's gone. And I think, you know, you'll never know if your friends are that same person. So once people know that you're going through a struggle and you're open with that, people connect. Yeah, they resonate. Yeah, of course they do. Yeah. And it's comfortable. Yeah. Is there anything you want to add to anything? No, I think I'm content. Or plug? So companies you work, veteran companies you're working with? Yeah, so with the fundraiser for the AFPSC, which is the skiing charity that helped me get on this, one of the things that I wanted to advocate was the support from veteran brands. You know, go to the States, everyone's always wearing somebody else's kit or they're big about it. Whereas in the UK, it's getting there gradually. So I wanted to try and support as many veteran owned businesses as could. So Combat Fuel, they got in touch with me and we set up a ⁓ discount code, Diffie Dan is the code and essentially with every purchase that's made using that discount code, the contribution then goes towards the fundraiser. So there's a pot of money currently sitting within Combat Fuel on my account that they can go towards the fundraiser. The Catalyst Project, again, know, sort of military, military around business at the moment. He's tag teaming both. coaching people on Cimmy Street and being an ARI PTCI himself. They're huge. Heuristic traps. Mitch was a guy that I went through rehabilitation with. He's a boot neck as well, PTI. And he set up this clothing brand. And when we were in rehab, I said, you know, I'll try and help you guys when I can. And when I set up social media and started doing this event, said, I'll wear your stuff. So there's a few things that I've pushed out there that we've done together. ⁓ But yeah, apart from that, you know, the AFPST. are the limelight of the whole thing. They know I'm supportive. They're the ones that have done the magic. Correct, yeah. Gave you the positivity. Yeah, literally. The person that had taken me out of that room has sort of shown me what was on the other side of the door, if you like. What happens when you walk out of the block and walk out of that gate. I've got for you a Sig hat from Sig. Oh, thank you. My mate works there, basically. And some stickers. Thank you very much. That's all right. Yeah, it's an Ali hat to walk out with. Yeah, mate, yeah. Sig on a water bottle. Yeah, it's funny. And yeah, I just want to say really just thanks for coming and spending the time and effort getting here. No, no dramas. Really nice to meet you. Really excited for the future. think you're going to do great things. I appreciate it. And I'd fucking love to do some Nordic skiing with you. Yeah, let's do it. think once this Guinness World Records... More importantly. Yeah, I think we'll definitely have to get out there and do some skiing together at some point. Yeah. 100%. Yeah, and just, you know, I've got networks, you've got networks. Yeah. Just all work together. Yeah, boom, And if we can do anything or... I'd love to get someone on from that ski charity to talk because I think they clearly do some really good shit. Yeah they do. They're massive, know, and that whole community. You've got people from all walks of life, know, all types of service, people from all different conflict zones, different deployments and together you're a collective entity, right? You're all coming from whatever it was and you're easily able to go onto the snow and do something positive. So yeah. Thanks Dan. Thank you. Love it to meet you. Cheers mate.