Retired champion sit-skier is now recovering at home in Redcar after dramatic rescue bid after he fell ill on Icelandic icecap
Teesside Paralympian Sean Rose is recovering at home after his record-breaking bid to conquer a glacier hit the skids.
Retired champion sit-skier Sean, of Redcar, and three colleagues were attempting a world first by crossing the Vatnajökull icecap in Iceland by snow kite.
But when the 42-year-old fell ill with a bladder infection and fever, the trip had to be abandoned amid a dramatic rescue bid.
He was stranded 30 miles into the wilderness and conditions were too bad for a helicopter to come and pick him up.
A second rescue attempt to scramble two 4x4 vehicles was also scrapped.
But with Sean’s temperature rising dangerously, two “Super Jeeps” from the East Iceland Rescue Service eventually got through.
And after a hair-raising, five-hour journey through the worst snow and ice the glacier could muster, Sean eventually reached hospital, where he spent two nights recovering before being allowed to fly home to Britain.
Gallery: Sean Rose
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Never before has a disabled athlete crossed Vatnajökull, let alone by snow kite.
And displaying the Teesside grit which made him become world champion, and saw him represent the UK at the Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, Sean subsequently left a defiant message on Facebook: “We failed to reach our final destination.
"That doesn’t sit well with me, so Mr Vatnajökull we’ve unfinished business.”
Sean, who now lives in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, with wife Leana and their two children, was tackling the “4 People 6 Legs” challenge with Kieron Jansch, 42, and Max Smith, 49, both from London, and Mike Dann, 35, of Huddersfield.
They estimate they were an agonising two to three days short of completing the task when Sean fell ill.
Speaking before the expedition, Sean, who was born in Middlesbrough, grew up in Redcar and went to Marske’s Bydales School, said: “I like a challenge. I’m excited.
"This will be something completely different for me. I’m used to competing against other people, but this will be very much a challenge against myself and the elements.”
And even though it’s a challenge he didn’t win this time, he’s determined to return.
He told the Gazette today: “I’d do it in a heartbeat. In fact, I’m heading back to Iceland in three weeks to do some more training.
“As a team, we feel it’s something that has to be done. One way or another, we hope to be back - maybe even next year.”
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