Success and heartbreak for ex Marine on charity walk

A former Royal Marine who suffered more than 400 separate injuries when he was blown up in Afghanistan has completed what he describes as his hardest mental and physical challenge.

Paul Vice walked from Exeter to Manchester in aid of FORCE Cancer Charity but faced late frustration as his planned 300ft bungee jump was cancelled due to Storm Amy.

Paul, who has a prosthetic leg, was scheduled to walk 232 miles but ended up covering 250 on his 10-day trek to Tatton Park, passing through Taunton, Bristol, Monmouth, Hereford, Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch and Crewe.

He has raised more than £6,068 and was exceptionally emotional as he crossed the finish line to be greeted by his family.

Dark

Paul explains: “What started out as maybe a bit of a terrible idea turned out to absolutely be the case. If you’d asked me if I was going to finish after the first two days, where prosthetic failures made my stump resemble more of a pepperoni pizza slice than a residue limb, even I would have said that it’s a bit of a push.

“There were many, many dark hours on the road and this has been arguably the hardest physical and mental experience I’ve had so far in my life and considering the car crash I’ve had up to now, that’s saying something.

“That being said, a few things came to light for me personally. Human endeavour is one thing that should not be overlooked as well as spirit. Unfortunately, the jump was deemed too dangerous to attempt and was cancelled. For a short while I felt I had failed and came all this way for nothing. I got upset.

Praise

“But the human spirit is something to behold, especially when other have expressed their praise and admiration for my achievement. The fact is, we, as a collective, raised over £6k for people who are suffering the most horrific times in their lives and we should all be proud that we could help in some way. Some gave cash, some gave shelter, some gave food and water. I gave my skin, heart and soul.

“Thank you to everyone who helped me out as sometimes morale was dangerously low.

“Never again……until next time!”

Paul’s sponsorship page is still open and you can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/page/paul-vice-mc

The ex-RM corporal from Exeter suffered catastrophic injuries when he was blown up by an improvised explosive device in 2011 while serving in Afghanistan.

Smashed

He “died” twice when his heart stopped as he was airlifted back to Camp Bastion in Helmand Province.

The father-of-four suffered a broken neck, severed artery, brain damage, a paralysed right arm, is deaf in one ear, blind in one eye and had 400 pieces of shrapnel and stone inside him after the explosion.

The left side of his body was, in his words, smashed to pieces, and after a number of operations, he decided to have his left leg amputated three years later.

Paul, who holds the Military Cross for gallantry, came up with the idea of walking from FORCE Cancer Charity’s Support Centre in Exeter to Cheshire for a bungee jump after raising £5,000 for the organisation by completing the Three Peaks Challenge earlier this year.

FORCE offers free support to thousands of people in Devon dealing with a cancer diagnosis and all of its services are paid for by donations, grants, legacies and fundraising.

Ceri Bastyan, FORCE Community Fundraising Officer, said: “What a pleasure it has been to support Paul with this fundraiser. His grit and determination to get through the 250 miles has been nothing short of extraordinary and I am sad that it has come to an end… for now.”