At the beginning of Darren’s rehabilitation at the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries (MCSI), he was encouraged by the ward’s Clinical Psychologist to begin capturing his journey in words – not just for himself, but for those who might one day follow in his footsteps and draw courage and hope from a story of adversity, resilience, and rediscovered purpose.

Four years later, that writing would become Strength Through Adversity – Darren’s first book and a compilation of the blogs written during his time in hospital and throughout the early stages of a journey that would lead to record-breaking adaptive expeditions across the world.

The Mindset Blog sits separate from the chronological story of Darren’s life. Instead, it explores the foundations of resilience, mental strength, and perspective – distilling the lived experiences of mountaineering, catastrophic injury, and extreme expeditions into practical insights for navigating challenge, pressure, and uncertainty. Many of the lessons shared here are the same principles Darren delivers in his keynote talks to organisations across the UK and internationally – grounded not in theory, but in lived experience at the edge of what’s possible.