Ex-soldier injured in tank attack takes on Arctic challenge with fellow veterans
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A former soldier who was left with severe burns following a petrol bomb attack in Iraq is to take on an “epic” 500km (300 mile) Arctic expedition alongside three fellow veterans for charity. The challenge will mark 20 years since Karl Hinett, a member of the Staffordshire regiment, suffered life-changing injuries following a petrol bomb attack on his warrior tank in Basra, southern Iraq.
Mr Hinett, 38, sustained 37% burns to his face, hands, arms, legs and stomach and went through 16 operations over five years to recover from his injuries. He has enlisted celebrity veterans – Jason Fox from TV’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, adventurer Aldo Kane and author Brian Wood – to join him on his challenge.
The team will take on the Montane Lapland Arctic Ultra in Swedish Lapland in March, which will see them trek through snow and ice-covered rivers, lakes and forests over 10 days to raise money for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. “I’m very excited to get out as a team, traversing the wilderness, being out for 10 days,” Mr Hinett, from Tipton, in the West Midlands told the PA news agency, at Jadat Adventure in northern Sweden.
“Being the 20-year anniversary of my injury, I wanted to do something that sort of almost celebrated it and I wanted to raise funds for SSAFA who help people like myself. “It is born from fire and celebrating in ice.”. Since 2005, Mr Hinett has run hundreds of marathons and ultra-marathons across the world, as well as summiting Mt Manaslu in Nepal, and attempting Mt Everest.
