In the months after my climbing accident, as I came to terms with a Spinal Cord Injury that left me paralysed from the chest down, my greatest concern wasn’t just what I had lost – it was whether I could still access the outdoors and keep adventure at the centre of who I am. It wasn’t until I met the woman I would fall madly in love with that I began to think about how my disability might shape my ability to share that passion with future children.

What I would discover is that, as a father with a disability to two adopted, beautiful children, it would be my physical differences that would create a unique dynamic and story as to how our family adapts and thinks out of the box in how we make the outdoors not just accessible, but a deliberate and defining part of our family DNA.

Plus, there’s something special about the look of surprise on hikers’ faces as they pass us and see my son riding on my lap atop the rolling hills of South Shropshire – a place we return to in every season. The first time our son saw snow was on a crisp winter morning. We walked for miles without seeing another soul – perfect. It’s also not unusual for our family to resemble the team at the start of a bobsleigh run at the Winter Olympics, with my wife powering behind me, pushing my wheelchair to places a wheelchair has likely never been before.

When I reflect on our path to parenthood – from the emotional rollercoaster of multiple failed rounds of IVF to the beauty of starting our family through adoption – I realise I never lost sight of the kind of father I wanted to be: one who shows that finding community and purpose in the outdoors is vital for building the mental strength and resilience needed to face life’s greatest challenges. I believe that we can achieve this by encouraging our children to have the bravery to take a step out of their comfort zone (safe in the knowledge that we are by their side), and to have the courage to unapologetically chase their dreams.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have travelled on expeditions to the farthest reaches of our planet: from the frozen beauty of Antarctica and the South Pole to kayaking the length of Britain’s rugged and dramatic coastline, but it is the micro-adventures with my children that I look forward to most, and I cannot wait to see where this, life’s greatest adventure, takes us as a family in the years to come. Becoming an ‘Outdoor Dad with a Difference’ has been my biggest and proudest achievement.