A CHARITY in New Milton has helped an injured paratrooper conquer the highest peak in south Wales.

Former British Paratrooper Ben Parkinson conquered Pen y Fan on Thursday September 16 to mark 15-years since he survived the Afghanistan conflict.

Joining him on the challenge was an ex-firefighter with MND, John Chart, who has lost the use of his arms and police officer, Laurence East, who has stage four cancer.

A group of former military and emergency service personnel, with their own injuries and mental health conditions as a result of the traumas they have faced on duty, helped the trio to reach the top of the highest peak.

Ben lost both legs and suffered brain damage while serving in Afghanistan in 2006. He was not expected to survive, let alone speak or walk again but he defied the odds and has since taken part in many expeditions with the Pilgrim Bandits.

The Pilgrim Bandits are a military charity that supports injured and amputee veterans by inviting them to take part in physically demanding expeditions that push them to their limits, helping them to enjoy life again and explore what they are capable of.

Previously, Ben became the first double amputee to cross the Hardanger Plateau in Norway and one of the few to conquer the mighty Yukon River in Canada.

More recently, he took on the charity’s winter survival course in Sweden, trekking across inhospitable terrain and sleeping in snow holes at minus 20 degrees and conquered a 1,000-mile bike ride across the country alongside ten other amputee veterans.

He said: “It’s been 15 years, when people didn’t think I would even survive 15 days. I’ll never stop doing things that people say are impossible and now I’ve got Ish [Inspector Isherwood] and the Curtis Palmer Program supporting me, I’ll get to the top.”