The Mountain Within Me

In 2017 Ed Jackson suffered a catastrophic spinal injury after diving into the shallow end of a friend's swimming pool. At the age of 28, with a professional rugby career ahead of him, a split-second moment changed everything as his neck shattered. Given a prognosis by his doctor as he lay in intensive care that he would never walk again, Ed harnessed every ounce of his mental capacity to fight his way back to independence. With friends and family willing him on, Ed has defied medical predictions that he would be a quadriplegic for life. From the first tiny movement in his left big toe to reaching the summit of Snowdon and eventually climbing peaks in the Himalayas, Ed has redefined his life turning what most people would feel is a tragedy into a story of purpose and hope. Setting his goals well beyond the physio room, Ed had his sights on the mountains as a focus for his recovery. Each mountain presented its own challenge, and each challenge gave him the drive to keep going. But the mountains also provided so much more than just the climb -- it provided Ed along with his wife Lois with space to reflect on their recovery journey and about how they could give back. And so emerged Millimetres 2 Mountains, a charity established to help others who had been severely traumatised to overcome their struggles and create positive change. Ben Halm was a sergeant in the British army with a glittering career ahead of him until the day when his parachute didn't open. Falling 10,000m in 12 seconds, the impact of the ground fractured his spinal column and left him a paraplegic. Medically discharged from the Army Ben was faced with a life-time injury as well as the loss of the career he loved. Reaching out to Millimetres 2 Mountains Ben was selected as someone who could benefit from M2M and their ethos and joined Ed on his next climb -- to scale the peaks of Nepal and reach the summit of Himlung Himal at over 7000m. The climb will challenge the men both physically and mentally and will reveal the continuing battle they have with their bodies and their minds in living with their disabilities. The film will take the viewer on Ed's journey from the highs of a rugby rising star to the lows of struggling with sexual dysfunction and constant pain - and along the way meet some of the people who have been impacted by Ed and Lois's work. Considering himself lucky to have been given a new chance, Ed now wants to challenge others to join him on his continuing journey to recovery.