Summary: When Karen Darke was 10 years old, she decided she would climb all 3000ft of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. She did so nearly 25 decades years later, even though she has been in a wheelchair since a rock climbing accident at the age of 21. She spent five days hoisting herself up the rockface and spent the nights on ledges in the cliff. This is just one example of extraordinary bravery and perseverance by Karen, who became Paralympic Champion in hand-cycling at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. She says “Life has taught me the importance of holding tight to belief, and never, ever giving up.” I invited her onto the show to share more about her amazing attitude to life, and what we can all learn from her about resilience, perseverance and possibility.
