Post by @ash_dykes

5 times I almost died….. 1. Mongolia – The Gobi Desert Hiking solo and unsupported across Mongolia, deep in the Gobi-Desert, I arrived at a water well I was depending on, only to find it dry. I was suffering with heat stroke. No evacuation. My organs felt like they were drying up, I was delirious, hallucinating. I crawled under my 120kg trailer to escape the sun, it was sinking into the soft sand. It was 40+°C and the next water source was four days away. I had to ration the last remaining dribbles of water I had left. 2. Madagascar – Malaria During a world-first trek across Madagascar’s most remote terrain, I caught falciparum malaria, the deadliest strain. It usually kills within 24 hours. I kept walking for five days with it. By the time I reached a city, the doctor said: “If you were a few hours later, you’d have potentially slipped into a coma.” 3. The Alps – Landslide While training for my first world record, I was solo in the Alps. I was young, naive, and trekking through an area that had killed five people in a landslide just days before. I crossed it, minutes before another one hit. 4. Madagascar – Held at Gunpoint In a remote region, a drunk military officer pulled an AK47 on me. A crowd formed, pushing forward. He kept dropping the strap, catching it by the trigger, barrel pointed at my face. One twitch… and that could’ve been it. 5. Wildlife – When Nature Turns Attacked by Tibetan Mastiffs. Stalked by a pack of wolves a day after they’d killed a local. Hiding from bears in west China. Crossing crocodile-infested rivers in Madagascar. Any one of these could’ve ended it. So many more, but somehow… I’m still here. And onto the Congo basin in 14 days…what will be my biggest threat out there? 👀