Captain George Bromley, 36, broke his neck following a horrific military Rugby accident in 2019. The incident fractured his cervical vertebrae and damaged his discs, which led to the temporary loss of use of his left arm. The incident could have left him permanently paralysed.

Now he is determined to be the first person to complete a beeline route from Lands End to John O’Groats – solo.

He will be completing this gruelling solo challenge without the use of a support vehicle, which means he will have to carry all of his equipment himself for the entire length of the journey – a total of 690km kayaking, 410km walking and 5km swimming across the whole expedition.

Capt. Bromley is tackling this challenge to raise funds for five charities, SSAFA, Blesma, Rugby for Heroes, Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.

He selected those charities following his accident, because had he have been left permanently paralysed, as at some points was feared, these charities would have supported him through living with the injury.

George said; “After suffering a serious neck injury playing rugby, I found myself unsure of my career, my future and I realised just how much I took for granted. I took a knock during a game in Scotland which fractured my cervical vertebrae and damaged the discs which in turn caused the temporary loss of use of my left arm”.

Having this challenge to focus on will not only benefit these organisations, but gave George himself “Something to reach for” as he worked towards his recovery.

"The biggest challenge I faced was the mental battle," he said.

"With an injury like that you don't know your worth and you think you're not going to be employed any more, you that could lose this or that, your home, or your living. That is something I really wanted to fight against. This challenge was something to reach for, something to look forward to, something to keep me going."

Without a support team to help along the way, Capt. Bromley has planned his route to use nature wherever possible. However, the weather and tides are still dangerously unpredictable.

Using a kayak, he will follow the Cornish coast from Lands’ End up to Lundy. Crossing the Bristol Channel from there he will work up the Welsh coastline, before an epic 75km paddle to the Isle of Man. Once clear of the Isle of Man and in Galloway, George will be ditching the kayak and walking across Scotland, including crossing the country’s second-largest peak, Ben Macdui, bound for Inverness / Nairn. From there he’ll attempt to swim the Moray Firth and then walk the final 100km to the finish.

Though he has studied the charts and tides thoroughly, George is still cautious about the dangers he could face kayaking in the open water.

“The Bristol channel is a scary place. I'm going to be in the middle of it for the best part of a whole day. The Isle of Man and the Irish Sea, that journey is about 43 miles (70km), so that is also a worry.”

Blesma’s fundraising Team have supported George to make the most of his challenge, by linking him up with Gloucester based creative content agency Brace Creative. As corporate supporters of Blesma, they were only too happy to step in and assist with web design and social media for this epic challenge. Those interested in following George’s journey can track his progress via the new website designed by Brace: https://solobeelinebritain.co.uk/

Blesma’s Regional and Corporate Fundraising Manager Chris Knight said Capt Bromley's challenge is "honestly incredible".

"If he was paralysed from his rugby injury, there are charities that would have been there to support him. He's now fundraising for those charities to acknowledge them and the work they do."

George writes of his motivation to take part in the challenge on his website, https://solobeelinebritain.co.uk/ :

 “After a long and arduous recovery, I have discovered a new sense of energy and spirit and I want to use this to do something in return for the organisations and charities that helped me to recover, and who have supported me, and others, in living life beyond injury. I have chosen these charities because of the fantastic work they do to support injured service personnel and veterans. Had I not been so lucky they would have stepped in to help me and provide care throughout my life. This is a chance for me to pay them back for what could have happened.

When I was injured I took the opportunity to research challenges that people undertake in the UK and around the world. I was struck by the Lands end to John O’Groats challenge however wanted to do it in a way that hadn’t been done before. The beeline or straight-line challenge has never been completed solo, and this will be the first time that anyone has attempted it.

For me this ticks all of the boxes; a sense of adventure, something no one has done before and an event hard enough to warrant donations.”

Track his progress throughout the challenge at: https://solobeelinebritain.co.uk/