A WREXHAM man completed a 100km trek across the Arctic with a dislocated knee to raise vital funds for a cancer hospital. 

Carl Little, from Rhos, alongside Mark Keen, from Hawarden, were part of a 16-strong team, that traversed across the Arctic in snowshoes to raise money for NHS Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff. 

The leader of the team, Simon Ford, lost his partner to cancer. She was brilliantly supported throughout by the Velindre Cancer Centre. 

Not only did Mark and Carl manage to complete the gruelling week-long trek - the latter did so with a dislocated knee. 

"I dislocated my knee just 4km into the first day of the hike, and the total was 110km," said Carl, who owns  Black Ops Tattooing in Cefn Mawr.

"This wasn’t just a mild injury, my knee cap was around the back of my leg. The guide and medic Matt managed to relocate my knee and strap me up. Despite being told I couldn’t continue I just kept telling myself, the pain I’m going through to complete this challenge doesn’t compare to the suffering of those going through cancer treatment and ultimately the fundamental reason for doing this is to help them. So, I sucked it up and I carried on through the pain."

The Leader: Carl pictured during the trek.Carl pictured during the trek. (Image: User generated content)

The 35-year-old's fundraising efforts have surpassed what he hoped to achieve, with Carl raising more than £6,000 - double the £3,000 he hoped to raise. Mark has raised over £4,000.

The team's total now sits at over £50,000 - all of which will to the Velindre Cancer Centre.

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Reflecting on his experience, Carl said: "It was an incredibly difficult challenge to say the least but even with the injury it was an amazing experience. I would happily do it again.

"We had days where the weather was ideal and we had days where it was white outs and temperatures as low as -25° with the wind chill pushing it to -35° briefly. We had people (including myself) suffering from frost nip, there where people with blisters so big their heals where hanging off, the list of various issues goes on and on but we got through it with an almost full team at the end. The team put in an amazing effort."

The Leader:

Mark added: "I suffered from severe blisters, but this trip certainly didn’t disappoint - it was everything I expected and some.

"The views, the conditions, the temperatures were all talking points. It wasn’t a walk in the park by any call, it was a mental challenge as well as physical.

"You spent hours a day in single file, unable to talk and hear due to wind and crunching of snow - so there was a lot of thinking time."