Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, from every walk of life.
From 99-year-old Capt Tom Moore who walked 100 lengths of his garden to raise more than £23million for the NHS, to the doctors and nurses fighting to save lives, superhuman efforts are being made every day.
And while most of us couldn’t contemplate running a marathon or climbing Mount Everest, an inspirational band of Brits have managed these astonishing feats many times over, raising millions for good causes and smashing world records in the process.
Their achievements are even more remarkable because they are battling their own obstacles, overcoming the limitations of their bodies and fighting off dark demons to reach for the stars.
Today we celebrate the extraordinary efforts of these inspiring Brits and share their stories of amazing endeavours against all odds.
'I did this for my mum and Climbers Against Cancer'
Towering 449ft above Orkney, the Old Man of Hoy is a formidable challenge for even the most able of climbers.
The needle-thin rock stack – one of the highest in Britain – is exposed to the elements and surrounded by the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
But for eight-year-old Edward Mills, summoning up the courage to scale this natural wonder was nothing compared to the fight his mum Bekki was waging against breast cancer.
The Gloucestershire schoolboy had been a keen climber since the age of two and came up with the idea for the charity challenge on a family holiday to Orkney.
And in June 2018, as his proud mum watched from a ferry, he made his incredible ascent, flanked by two coaches. It took Edward four-and-a-half hours to reach the top and become the youngest person to complete the climb.
At the summit, he hid a small box with a metal card tucked inside that read: “I did this for my mum and Climbers Against Cancer.”
Edward’s record-breaking climb raised £35,000 for charity but most importantly, he made his terminally ill mum incredibly proud in her final days.
Bekki passed away three months after Edward’s triumph, aged 38.
Dad Nathan says: “It meant the world to her.
“She was going to miss out on everything else in his life – his girlfriends, university, his first job – so this was something incredible she could be part of and witness.”
Two weeks after Bekki died, Edward and big brother George, 11, also tragically lost their grandad.
Edward went on to win a Pride of Britain award after coming out on top in the Child of Courage category.
While collecting his Good Morning Britain-backed award in 2018, the youngster complained to then Prime Minister Theresa May about the standard of the loo at No10.
He told her: “I have a complaint. It’s so posh here I thought your toilet would be made of gold. But it isn’t.”
Mrs May, suppressing a smile, replied: “I am sorry about that, Edward. I shall have a word with the Chancellor.”
Marathon marvel can walk only using arms
As she crossed the finishing line of the London Marathon, Claire Lomas was in last place. But her herculean 17-day effort to make it to the end made her the true winner of the race.
The former top-level event rider was left paralysed from the chest down in a horse riding accident in May 2007.
Doctors told her she would never walk again. But eight weeks later, determined not to take her fate lying down, Claire discharged herself and began rehab. She had to relearn everything, from making a cup of tea to getting dressed.
And her courage reaped its rewards.
She met husband Dan a year later, had daughter Maisie, and took up new sports such as skiing and handcycling – grateful to still have use of her arms.
In April 2012 she put on a pioneering ReWalk “bionic suit” to tackle the 26.2 mile marathon at no more than two miles a day.
A year later came a 400-mile handcycle ride around Britain, then she did the Great North Run 2016 in five days – pregnant with second daughter, Chloe.
And the following year she finished the ten-mile Great South Run in 24 hours, her first non-stop endurance event.
Claire, who is 40 next week, has so far raised more than £750,000 for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation. She says of the suit: “It doesn’t walk for me, I have to use the parts that aren’t paralysed to make it walk. It’s not just physical, it’s the concentration with every step.”
Yet the Leicestershire mum insists: “It sounds strange, but the best days of my life came after the accident. So many amazing things have happened since that I never dwell on the negatives.”
Gold medal and world record after rocks falls
A thirst for adventure was always in Karen Darke’s DNA – and a life-changing injury was not going to stop her.
A keen fell runner, mountain biker and competitive rock climber from a young age, she scaled the Matterhorn using just a postcard to guide her.
But in 1993, aged 21, she fell 30 feet on to rocks while climbing a sea cliff – breaking her skull, arms, neck and back.
Yorkshire-born Karen woke from a coma to be told she had lost the use of her legs.
She says: “I initially thought, ‘I’d rather be dead’. But I soon learned that with friends, creativity and perseverance, most things are possible.”
When she left hospital after six months, the first thing she bought was a racechair.
Geologist Karen, 49, became a top-level athlete, and was World Paratriathlon Champion in 2009 and 2012.
She won silver at the 2012 Paralympics for handcycling, and followed it up with a gold in Rio – despite being hit by a car during her training.
She has handcycled 1,400km over the Himalayas, sitskied across Greenland and scaled Yosemite’s El Capitan, a four-day climb of 4,000 pull-ups.
She also holds the women’s handcycle speed record at 41.86mph – and still seeks out adventure. Karen says of her achievements: “Ability is a state of mind, not of body.”
Ordeal fit for heroes
After the horrors of war, few challenges remain to truly test you. But Ibi Ali and Luke Wigman, both injured on the front line, found one – the World Marathon Challenge, tackling seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, in conditions from -15C ice to 27C heat.
Army captain Ibi won the Military Cross for bravery after continuing to lead his men despite losing part of his right arm and seven pints of blood in Iraq in 2007, when a daisy-chain of linked bombs exploded.
RAF paratrooper Luke suffered horrific injuries to his left leg from an IED in Afghanistan in 2011.
They met at the Invictus Games, and their multi-marathon mission in January 2017 raised £1million for a state-of-the-art rehab centre near Loughborough for wounded troops.
Luke averaged 3:09:32 for each marathon, finishing third overall. Ibi, averaging 4:05:27, became the first amputee to complete the event. He said: “If we can help just one person through rehab, we’re happy.”
I'll never give up dream as dancer
Never was a name more appropriate than Pollyanna Hope. After losing her right leg below the knee aged two, Pollyanna refused to let her dreams be dashed.
Determined to be a ballerina, she fashioned a pointe shoe for her prosthetic leg from a plastic cup, letting her dance on tiptoe like every other dancer. Mum Sarah says: “She decided, despite what anyone said, she could do it.”
Pollyanna, her mum and grandmother Elizabeth were hit by a bus at a bus stop in 2007. She and Sarah suffered life-changing injuries. Elizabeth died.
Now 14, she has had more than 20 operations, and has fought for her place in the world of ballet – even after losing marks in an exam for not pointing her non-existent foot.
A national champion for Riding for the Disabled, she now uses a prosthetic blade she helped design, and has just beaten 200 able-bodied children to a place on a dance course. Sarah says: “She has drive. If she wants to be a dancer when she grows up, she will be a dancer.”
Edwina: Irongran at 74
When husband Phil teased that she would be incapable of running a couple of miles, Edwina Brocklesby was spurred to prove him wrong.
Having barely exercised in her life, the 50-year-old social worker signed up for the Nottingham Half Marathon. And when Phil died from cancer two years later, it was in sport that Edwina sought solace.
Now 77, the grandmother of four has completed a raft of marathons and triathlons, including six Ironman races – consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and a marathon.
Edwina says: “I trained as a counsellor but I found running better for dealing with grief.” At 72 she became the oldest British woman to finish an Ironman, and did another at 74 – earning the nickname Irongran.
Another woman driven by grief is Mavis Paterson, 81, who took up cycling after her three adult children all died between 2012 and 2016.
Mavis, of Dumfries and Galloway, last year became the oldest woman to cycle the 960 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats – raising £75,000 for cancer charity Macmillan.
