INTRO: You’re listening to Seize Your Adventure, the podcast that shares stories of adventure and outdoor living, with epilepsy.
[Short piece of dramatic music]
FRAN: Hello adventurers, it’s Fran Turauskis here and thank you all for joining me again today. For regular listeners you might be wondering why the opening music has changed tone a bit for this episode. Well it’s because this is a special episode being released on the 26th of March, a day that is affectionately known amongst the epilepsy community as Purple Day. So, every year on the 26th of March people around the world wear as much purple as possible to spread awareness and show support for every person out there living with epilepsy. I have a bit of an audio adventure in this episode for you.
Today’s guest is an adventurer, a soldier and an author. He’s been described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as a “determined, fearless adventurer and an inspiring man”. He is the kind of person you imagine when you say the word ‘adventurer’ but before we get into the interview I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone out there who listens to the podcast everyone who’s been supporting it by rating and reviewing it, and everyone out there who shares it on social media. Seize Your Adventure is a very niche concept about two things that I’m very passionate about and it’s only by all of you out there telling everyone about it then we can spread these stories. If you do enjoy Seize Your Adventure and if you like today’s episode please can I ask that you leave a review and share it wherever you share these things and because it is the biggest thing that you can do to support me.
So, today’s guest is Jordan Wylie and he is known for his challenges at the extreme end of the adventure spectrum. Jordan has run races in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. He has written a book about his time tackling pirates off the coast of Africa and he has hiked up Kilimanjaro barefoot. But he’s also known for the work he does helping others as an ambassador and campaigner for various charities, one of which is Epilepsy Action. Jordan was diagnosed with epilepsy after he contracted dengue fever whilst working in Djibouti, but rather than letting epilepsy scare him, Jordan took on the role of an epilepsy ambassador and continues to push the boundaries of extreme adventure showing the world what someone with epilepsy can do. I managed to hunt Jordan down at the National Running Show in Birmingham back in January this year. He was there to speak about Running Dangerously, the challenge he set himself last year to complete three running races in the three most dangerous countries in the world. He also spoke about some of the mental and physical health challenges he has faced over the years. Unfortunately Jordan was the first speaker of the day and I couldn’t get up from London in time for his talk. But we did manage to find a table to sit at afterwards so I could throw a few quickfire questions at him. You’ll hear in a minute it wasn’t the quietest place for an interview, so I do apologise for that, but Jordan was an absolute charm to talk to. You are going to enjoy this one so here it is: adventurer, soldier, author. This is Mr Jordan Wylie:
[Sound of busy restaurant in background throughout interview]
FRAN (to Jordan): We’re just going to do the quickfire ‘20 questions’ for you, so first off where do you call home at the moment?
JORDAN: So home for me originally is Blackpool in Lancashire as you might guess from the accent, but today I’m living down in a place called Andover in Hampshire. I ended up staying there after a military career so I’m a bit of an honorary Southerner we could say.
FRAN: Yes indeed! Not quite lost the accent though, yet (laughs).
JORDAN: No, I’m quite proud of that (laughs).
FRAN: Definitely. What is your most treasured possession?
JORDAN: It’s an easy one for me, that, it’s my daughter. It might be a bit different to use a human being as your most treasured possession. But for me my daughter is the number one thing, person, whatever in life– She brings meaning to my life. So, absolutely, my daughter Evie is by far the biggest treasured possession and for me my greatest achievement in life, by a long way.
FRAN: Yeah absolutely and how old is she at the moment?
JORDAN: She’s 9. She’ll be 10 this year, so probably not so little anymore actually, she’ll be a little teenager soon. But she’s still my little girl.
FRAN: Absolutely. And, the happiest day of your life, then?
JORDAN: Well that links on, as you could have guessed, to the last question. But definitely, when my daughter was born. I don’t think anybody can ever prepare for being a parent. It’s– you know, it’s a shock to the system. It’s really, really tough to explain all the ups and downs you have as a parent. And I have so much respect as well, I should say, for people who have families who broke up, when you have single parents, whether they be male or female. Because to be a parent is, for me, the toughest job in the world. But it is also one of the most fulfilling. There is no better job at the same time.
FRAN: Yeah absolutely. So you’ve been on quite a few different expeditions. What is the hardest one that you’ve done to date?
JORDAN: Yeah, I’ve been on lots of expeditions, but I’m always trying to push the barriers of physical, mental, emotional endurance. So I like to think the last one is the hardest I’ve done, because that’s why I would have done it if that makes sense–
FRAN: Yeah
JORDAN (Cont): –because I’m always trying to do something that’s further, faster, tougher. So the Running Dangerously, for various reasons. One because we were running through war zones, which brings its own risk and danger but also for me to be running my first ever marathon and half marathon in a war zone, again was pretty– pretty tough, pretty brutal in many respects. So definitely, the Afghanistan Marathon was the biggest expedition for me, so far.
FRAN: Yeah, absolutely. And I completely get on board with that. People always ask me “What’s the best adventure?” And I always say, it’s the last one or the next one (laughs).
JORDAN: Yeah, absolutely.
FRAN: You have been described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as being ‘fearless’. But is there anything that you do fear?
JORDAN: I guess– I guess like a lot of people, I fear failure, you know? I never want to fail anything I do. I always give 110%. I never go into anything half-hearted. You know, I think that’s probably the only thing. But it also– that fear of failure is what drives me, you know, to levels beyond what people perceive are possible. So, yeah. But most things I’m pretty good with you know. No, no, sort of, phobias of spiders or anything like that. But, failure. I have some weird, sort of, bucket list things like swimming with crocodiles, sharks and things. So I’m normally quite good with most things.
FRAN: Yes, swimming with crocodiles. I think that would be off most people’s lists.
JORDAN: Yeah, you know, that’s certainly in my top five things that I need to do in my life and I’ll hopefully do it in the next year, or two. I find them such fascinating creatures–
FRAN (cutaway in studio): I just want to interrupt the interview very quickly to let you know Jordan is not the type of person to mention something if he doesn’t plan to do it. On the 18th of March, he posted a photo on Twitter of himself underwater, just casually stretched out on his back, directly underneath a crocodile. The comment next to the photo said, “Sometimes you just have to chill out and take a break”.
JORDAN (cont): –and it’s a lot like anything, you know? People talk about sharks, you know, you don’t swim with sharks and they talk about shark attacks and how many people are killed by sharks. But humans kill 100 times more sharks than sharks ever kill humans. So it’s just about perspective, I think.
FRAN: Is there someone that you especially look up to?
JORDAN: I look up to lots of people. I think– you know, I try to surround myself with people that inspire me on a daily basis. They make me want to better myself. I want to learn from them. But I would probably say my dad, he was a former Royal Marine commander. He’s somebody who always taught me that you only get out of life what you put in. And I remember him from an early age saying that in life you meet talkers, and you meet doers, and you need to decide quite early which one you’re gonna be. And I like to think that I’m always somebody who’s good for my word. If I say I’m gonna do something, I put it on my agenda to follow it through. So probably my dad, to be honest.
FRAN: And can you just talk us through a regular day as an Extreme Adventurer. What did you get up to yesterday?
JORDAN: Yesterday– So one of the things with adventures is the adventure is, obviously, is the really fun part, but not always necessarily the hard part. Because when you’re trying to do weird, wacky, crazy expeditions around the world it obviously needs funding. Somebody’s got to pay for that. So I spend quite a lot of time– I invest a lot of time in building relationships with companies, with brands, with businesses whose values are aligned to mine, who perhaps benefit from some exposure. Whether that’s through the TV, the media and newspapers. So it’s quite often I’m working on relationships through networking and attending events, through speaking at events like today at the UK National Running Show, because they’re the things that allow me to reach out to the people and to let people into the network. So yeah, yesterday was very much about sponsorship meetings, which is quite a normal day, actually.
FRAN: Wow, yeah. I think it’s– it’s lovely to just get that side of things as well because people always see the adventures and as you say, the fun stuff-
JORDAN: All the hard work is getting to the start line of any expedition. To find the funding, to find the people who were gonna get behind you. It’s not easy. And you’re only as– I always say you’re only as good as your last expedition. So if you told somebody you’re gonna do something or you’re gonna raise a certain amount of money, it’s quite important to deliver that, because otherwise, when you go around next time to attract fundraisers, it’s pretty tough.
FRAN: Yeah. So, the slightly nosey one, who was the last person that you spoke to on the phone?
JORDAN: Ooo the last person. Let’s have a look while we’re here, who’s the last person I spoke to on the phone? The last person I spoke to on the phone is actually the gentleman on the next table.
[Both laugh]
JORDAN (cont): So these guys– it’s important actually because these guys are from an organisation called Give Penny and they are– the best way to describe them is a very, extremely interactive charity fundraising platform. So think of Just Giving, but think of a platform that could do a million more things to make the experience of fundraising, sponsoring so much more interactive and engaging. I think it’s really important, actually, for fundraisers out there because everybody– not everybody, but a lot of people in this day and age, they do a charity fun run, they do a marathon run, they climb a mountain. You might jump out of a plane. So how do you spark the imagination of people when everyone’s done so many things already? And when you’re looking for donors and sponsorship, that’s really hard. So for me, using technology to be able to interact with people who are getting behind you, to be able to do a live feed from Afghanistan, to be able to do a Facetime from the North Pole. These are all really important things to be able to engage people on that journey with you. So, yeah, that was the last person I spoke to was this organisation called Give Penny.
FRAN: And like you say, it just comes back to the idea of community, and the networking. It’s so important.
JORDAN: Yeah, so important.
FRAN: So, obviously, you are known as a very positive person. Would you say that there was anything positive that has come from your epilepsy diagnosis?
JORDAN: Yes, definitely. One of the big positives is I get to meet really cool people like yourself (Fran laughs nervously) and organisations like Seize Your Adventure because, you know– I was probably quite naive, perhaps even ignorant to epilepsy before it happened to me. And I guess that happens with a lot of people, whatever it might be in life. Until it affects you, you don’t really know too much about it or have to deal with it. And I was just astonished to see how many people out there do have epilepsy. I couldn’t believe some of the statistics when– you know that I’m very honoured to be an ambassador for Epilepsy Action and the statistics they send me on how many people are diagnosed on a daily, weekly basis. But one of the most important things for me about having epilepsy was sending a message out that you can still achieve anything that you want in life. Because I remember quite quickly people telling me “you can’t do this, you can’t do that just because you’ve got epilepsy” and I was like, “Really? I can’t do any of these things?” And they said, “you can’t go running in Iraq or Afghanistan.” And this is professional– medical professionals telling me this. And I’m saying “No, I’m still going there. I will put measures in place to mitigate the risk.” Things like wearing my Road I.D. Medical Band, that if something happens and I have a seizure, people know that I have got epilepsy and they know what to do. Putting in place emergency medicines in case I do have a seizure and I need somebody to interact to help me. Training people around me, making them more aware of what it entails to be a first aider to with someone with epilepsy. So loads of positives as I say. Just getting to meet more people and help them get over the stigma that they think– Because if someone tells you something often enough that you can’t do something, people start to believe it. So it’s important to have people out there who are saying it’s a load of rubbish, you can do whatever you want. But you know, let’s take precautions.
FRAN: I have to say how many people would tell you not to run across Iraq, even if you didn’t have epilepsy?
JORDAN: (Laughs) that’s very true!
FRAN: Might as well do it anyway. Just for people, can you give us an idea of the type of seizures that you have?
JORDAN: Yes. So I’ve only ever had two seizures in my life. I had my first one about 18 months ago. And at first, quite honestly, the first time I had it I was outside the UK, I was overseas and I was in a country where nobody spoke English, so it was quite complicated because they didn’t know what was wrong with me and they couldn’t ask me what was wrong with me when I came back around. And when I got told that I may have epilepsy, initially, I refused to believe it. I was like, “thirty-five years old, no history of it in my family, I’ve not got epilepsy”. And then four weeks later, I had another seizure, and I was like, “Okay, I might have epilepsy now”. And since then, touch wood, I’ve never had another seizure. But I remember the first time I really, really chewed all the inside of my mouth, and it was so sore for months. It was, like, really tender. My mouth was bleeding. And also because I fell over and fainted outside a seizure, I had a big bruise across my head, I cut my face. So, you know, they’re the only two I’ve had. I don’t know– I’m learning all the time about epilepsy, and when I speak to more people, I’m learning all the time about their seizures. And when I go to Epilepsy Action, I’m surprised how many people out there are having seizures 5, 6, 7 times a day? You know, it’s incredible, really. I feel quite fortunate that it doesn’t affect my life too heavily. I don’t let it affect my life. But I think I still think a lot of it is psychological. You tell– if you’re accepting that your life is, you know, it’s influenced completely by epilepsy and you can’t do anything, I think that’s a very negative mindset to fall into. You know, you need to encompass it in every aspect of your life, but you don’t need it to control your life. That’s the worst thing you could do, I think.
FRAN: I think what you have hit on there quite nicely is the idea about balance between accepting that you have it, but also not accepting some of the limitations that you assume would be there.
JORDAN: Absolutely. I think the biggest thing for me was probably having to surrender my driving license for a year and then get re-assessed by medical professionals. It was actually, probably, one of the things that made me become a lot more healthier and fitter. It’s amazing because even just taking a walk to go to the shops in 10 minutes, you take a drive these days, you know? It’s just walking 20 minutes down the road. Which, again, getting out there for anyone with epilepsy or for anyone just– not even for people with challenges, just people in day to day life. Go for a 30 minute walk every day, go for a run or a jog because that puts you in the right headspace. It keeps the brain ticking, keeps you fresh, it allows you to organise your thoughts. So I recommend anyone, especially while we’re at the National Running Show, go for a little jog every now and again.
FRAN: We’ve kind of covered this already, but what would be the best tip you could give to someone who is travelling or adventuring with epilepsy?
JORDAN: I think firstly, you need to understand and respect your condition. You know, I’m absolutely saying, “don’t let it control your life”, but you certainly have to be realistic in terms of if you know what the potential triggers are for the seizure. For example, for me, it could have been dehydration. It could have been exhaustion. It could’ve been the heat because it’s a lot of stress on the body. So for me personally, it was about– we have an expression in the military that says ‘prior preparation planning prevents poor performance’. And that’s no different with epilepsy. If you’re gonna go somewhere, expeditions, travelling, make sure you’ve got the medication. Make sure you’ve got spare medication. Make sure the people travelling with you know what your condition is. Make sure they know what to do if you have a seizure. There’s nothing worse than if you’re in a strange place and everyone’s touching you, feeling your, moving you around and you don’t even know what’s going on. So it’s just about ‘prior preparation planning’ anywhere you’re going. If you’re gonna be on your own, there are obviously bigger risks. If you’re gonna be travelling to remote locations, you do risk assessments. I always say, whatever is in life, everything starts with a risk assessment and epilepsy is just another risk to manage. Whether you’re going in a conflict zone, whether you’re driving your car. We’re managing risk every day, we’re constantly doing dynamic risk assessments when we cross the road, you know, when we go into a building. Epilepsy is just another risk to manage that you need to be aware of.
FRAN: Really nicely put. So, if you were to have four people at a dinner party, which four people would you have?
JORDAN: That’s good. For me, I always want people who I can’t see anymore. I think it would probably be people who passed away. I think family is the most important thing in life. So for me to bring back both sets of grandparents, I would say. You know, there’s lots of celebrities in the world. There’s lots of influences, but for me family is everything. So, if I could bring back my Gran and Granddad on both sides, on my mum and dad’s side, and have one last supper with them. They’d be top seat at any table, any day. That makes me quite emotional, that (laughs).
FRAN: And if there was one place off the beatened track– beat-en track that you would recommend people do visit, what would it be?
JORDAN: Well, actually, you know what? I’ve been very fortunate to travel to a lot of weird and wonderful places around the world. Probably closer to home, you know, over the last few months, just on New Year’s Day this year, I went to Scotland, and what an incredible country. Again, I’ve probably been quite naive and oblivious. It’s on our doorstep. We always think we’ve got to travel to the other side of the world to find the most glorious places and incredible landscapes, but actually just three or four miles up the road and a few hours drive and you can find scenery and landscapes that you would only ever see in Hollywood films. You know, normally it’s absolutely incredible in this island. I went out to Northwest Scotland, and you can go basking shark diving up there, you can climb some of the most incredible mountains in Britain, so I don’t think you have to go a long way to find beauty. I think there’s a lot on our doorstep in the UK. And that’s certainly one of my objectives or New Year’s resolutions, is to start adventuring closer to home, because we often overlook that.
FRAN: Is that the first time you went to Scotland?
JORDAN: It was, into the highlands as such. I’ve been lots of times to Glasgow and Edinburgh, but actually going out into the remote wilderness, so to speak, because it was almost like I was the only person left on earth. There was nobody around for hundreds of miles. There’s something quite therapeutic and special about it.
FRAN: It gets into your blood. It really does.
JORDAN: It’s incredible. I’m going back to Ben Nevis next weekend, actually, to do a climb. So I’m excited about that.
FRAN: By the time this is out that will already have happened. I’ll make sure I update everyone on how that went.
FRAN (cutaway in studio): I can indeed give you an update on the Ben Nevis Challenge. On the 27th of January, Jordan and a team of seven other people did make it to the top of Ben Nevis. The weather was very icy and cold from the look of it, and the wind was very strong from the sound of it, but the team raised over £2000 for charity in total.
FRAN (to JORDAN): If you had the opportunity to speak to 18 year old you, what would you say to him?
JORDAN: When I was 18, I was, I won’t use the language of it, but I was a naughty little boy, still. I was quite immature. I thought the world owed me a favour. So I think if I could go back to that 18 year old, you know, I would say to him that the journey ahead is gonna be tough. It’s gonna be a roller coaster. But apply yourself, work hard and the world’s your oyster, really. I think one thing we don’t realise, especially when we’re young, is we’re surrounded by opportunities all the time. And we fail to realise that when we’re young. We only start to as we grow through life, when we develop and we evolve, then we start to recognise those opportunities. I’ve come to learn that life is a bit like a freight train passing us by all the time. If you imagine the train full of empty carriages just passing us by and we’re stood on the platform watching. I see that life is like we’re looking at that train and the train is full of opportunities. The train and the opportunities never stop to tell you it’s an opportunity and you’ve got to get on. You have to throw yourself at those opportunities. You have to throw yourself on that train, see where the journey takes you. I think for me to say to anyone listening who’s young or old or whoever it might be, there are always opportunities you’ve got on your radar. You’ve got to be looking for them. They won’t come to you and knock on your door. Also, build relationships. I have a little– when I talk in schools, actually, I have a little ‘Jordan’s ABC Rule’. I say ‘Attitude’. Attitude is everything, you can learn from a young age that attitude is one of the most important characteristics or attributes. Attitude will take you a lot further than talent and qualifications, than education. Just applying yourself with the right attitude, the willingness to apply yourself, to learn, will take you a long way in life. I say ‘B’ for ‘Build relationships’ everywhere you go. You never know who you’re gonna meet. Build relationships. Don’t build them to gain, build them to give. If you approach life with a giving attitude, and you want to help people and you want to give back, then life and the rest will take care of itself. It’s very reciprocal. And secondly– And thirdly, sorry– ‘C’ is ‘Continuous professional development’, which links into attitude. You never stop learning. Every day is a chance to learn. It’s a chance to meet people. Surround yourself with positive people. Don’t be brought down by negative people, they will suck the life out of you. Find positive people, and look after them and cherish them because they’re like diamonds. They’re special, they give you so much positive vibes and energy when you keep them in your inner circle.
FRAN: This kind of feeds into the same thing, again, but what is the best thing about being older and wiser now?
JORDAN: I think there’s an irony because when you’re young and you’re at school, people, they used to say to you– I’m sure you remember and I’m sure the listeners will remember it– But you know, people say that school days are the best of your life, and you should work hard and it’s that sort of, old cliche. But actually it is really true. And you know, there is something quite ironic that I left school with no qualifications and now today, and over the last five years, I’ve spent lots of money on trying to educate myself cause I didn’t listen in school. So, school and academia is an opportunity in itself. And if you don’t work hard, and if you don’t study, your life will pan out in that manner. And if you want to succeed and you want to progress, you will have to go back and start learning again. So, I think we can link it back to attitude, really. Apply yourself early, understand early. And also, find out what your ‘why’ is, you know? Why do you do what you do? What are your values, what do you stand for as a person? If you can work that out at a young age. Things like the military did a great job for me of teaching me the values of respect, courage, integrity, loyalty, discipline. If you can apply those core values into your life from an early age, I think they really stay with you through the journeys, and as far as your imagination can go.
FRAN: Now, we do like to give a little bit of inspiration to people on the podcast and the website. So can you give us one film, one book and one podcast that you would recommend people listen to, to inspire them?
JORDAN: Good question. The podcast, we’ll do the podcast first and there’s a great podcast out called Declassified. It is quite military orientated and you hear from lots of inspirational veterans on their highs and lows in their life and how they’ve used what they’ve learned to succeed. So Declassified by Mike Coates. is an incredible podcast. I listen to it a lot. This has got to be an opportunity for me to push my own book, Citadel (both laugh). I’d be a bit silly if I didn’t plug my own book. So check out, Citadel by myself, Jordan Wiley, available on Amazon and all good bookshops. Again, it’s about my journey, though most people will be able to relate to it, I’m sure. It’s about my journey growing up in Blackpool to where I am today. And a film? My favourite film is probably the Shawshank Redemption, which is an incredible film. But a film that I watched the other day, actually, A Beautiful Mind. Really, really good film. Really powerful, moving. And I also worked on a film many years ago, called Captain Phillips, for those who like a bit of action and pirates. I was very fortunate to work with Tom Hanks on that. So maybe that one. So A Beautiful Mind, Citadel and Declassified.
FRAN: You just mentioned that you do work with quite a lot of films and things like that. Is there anyone that you met that has made you starstruck?
JORDAN: You know, the only person that I’ve been starstruck by, and I’ve been starstruck by her three times, is Her Majesty the Queen. I feel really honoured to have met the Queen. I was, like, shaking, so nervous, you know? What a real privilege and what a lovely lady she is. It was like meeting one of your grandparents who dresses a lot better!
FRAN: I can only imagine that one, at the moment. But that’s a whole different level.
JORDAN: Yeah, I was so nervous. I still am, every time I’ve ever had the chance to interact, that’s the time when I’ve really been– that was like my England player, my Premier League player, my Hollywood A-lister and pop star rolled into one; her Majesty the Queen.
FRAN: And what does the future hold for you?
JORDAN: This year is– again, I only plan to one year ahead. You know, I think we can look at 5 and 10 years ahead, but you just never know what’s around the corner, what’s gonna happen in life. I’ve learned to have a plan, but be flexible. The next 12 months, I’ve got some really good expeditions. I’m doing Rowing Dangerously, which is a world first attempt to row across the Gulf of Aden. I’m doing an abseil of the Angel Falls, the world’s highest waterfall in Venezuela. Climbing Ben Nevis next week. And Hunted, Season 4 is on at the moment, Thursday, nine o’clock.
FRAN: So there you go, TV show recommendation as well. Lastly, for a nice round up, what would be your personal motto you want to leave people with?
JORDAN: My personal motto is “be the difference that makes a difference” because I think if we want to, we can all make a difference in this world. It doesn’t mean we have to change the world, but we can change the world to a few people by helping them. Have a look around you, take note and see how you can help, because we can all help somebody. And if we all make a little bit of a difference, together will make a big difference.
FRAN: Fab. Profound one to end on. Thank you very much!
JORDAN: No, thank you and a real pleasure to be on the show. Thank you.
FRAN (in studio): Jordan has so many credentials to his name. I was a little bit nervous going into that interview. But as you can hear, he is such an open and encouraging person. I didn’t stay nervous for very long.
If you’d like to know more about Jordan’s next challenge, you can head to Give Penny, which Jordan mentioned in the interview, the link to the donations pages in the Show Notes for you. Do stick around until the end of the episode, where you’ll get a bit more of a taste of what his challenge entails.
If this was your first time listening to Seize Your Adventure, thank you very much for joining us. I hope you did enjoy today. Feel free to get in touch with me and tell me what you think about the episode. And please do go back and have a listen to some of the other stories. It’s a slightly different set up from the one that we’ve had today, so I think you’ll enjoy those ones as well.
Next month we’ll be back to the usual format. So on the eighth of April, Jake Quigly will be telling us the story of his brain surgery and the road of recovery that took him to the roof of the world. I’ll then be chatting to Jake about his experiences on the 22nd of April.
Before we go today, if you’ve listened before, you will know that I like to give the last word to my guests. So I thought I would end today’s episode with the advert for Jordan’s next challenge for charity. As he said in the interview, he likes to push himself a little bit further with each challenge and, well, he’s really pushing the boat out with this one.
[Dramatic music. Pause. A loud breath outwards.]
JORDAN (as voiceover): In 2018 I ran through three of the most dangerous countries in the world to help children affected by war and conflict access education.
[Sounds of children, streets underneath]
In 2019 we’re gonna be pushing the boundaries even further.
[Sound of sea underneath]
I’m gonna attempt to row solo and unsupported across the world’s most dangerous trait of water. This has never been done before. This is Rowing Dangerously.
[Low, dramatic notes, screeches and sounds underneath throughout]
I’m gonna be rowing across the Bab el-Mandeb straits, one of the most dangerous and certainly one of the most geopolitical contested areas of water on the planet. Although the stretch of water is only 80 nautical miles wide, there will be danger every stroke of the oars, which is why no person on record has ever completed this highly dangerous task.
I’m honoured to introduce my flagship sponsor for Rowing Dangerously 2019, Gray Paige, who are one of the leading maritime security risk management consultancies in the world. I want to continue to help children whose lives have been affected by war and conflict around the world. I also want to continue to fly the flag for Epilepsy Action. I want to help Seafarers to do one of the most important jobs bringing us our goods every day, whatever the weather.
If you want to get involved with Rowing Dangerously in 2019 please get in touch with me via jordanwylie.org to show your support today.
Be the difference that makes a difference.
FRAN (in studio): So I’ll leave you with that one and until next time, Safe Adventures, everyone.
END
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