Scot who beat cancer twice treks to South Pole

A Scot who has twice beaten cancer is set to make history as part of a four-strong British team trekking to the South Pole.

A Scot who has twice beaten cancer is set to make history as part of a four-strong British team trekking to the South Pole.

Richard Smith, 35, from Edinburgh, who has beaten testicular cancer, is believed to be the first survivor of the disease to undertake the arduous Antarctic challenge.

Fellow team member and graduate Alex Hibbert, 21, from Portsmouth, will become the youngest Briton to trek to the Pole unsupported.

However, the team still need to raise £250,000 in sponsorship money to reach their goal of enduring a new 1000-mile route that will "break the mould".

The pair, along with adventure sports instructor Adam Griffiths, 24, from Warwick and Andy Wilkinson, 30, a Royal Marines reserve, from Lincolnshire, will have no kites, dogs or motorised power. When they set off in November, they will each drag sledges weighing more than 150 kilos in temperatures ranging from -50C to -10C for 90 days on snow and ice.

Each member of the group is expected to lose one-third of their body weight because of their huge workload and limited calorie intake during the expedition, which is raising money for two cancer charities.

Mr Smith, an IT consultant, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in August 2000 and went on to receive surgery and chemotherapy.

But the disease returned five years later.

Following further surgery and radiotherapy, he is under surveillance and having regular scans.

He said: "I cannot find anyone else who has done this expedition in history who has survived cancer twice. Anybody that has had a life-threatening illness knows how special it is to be given a second chance but for myself being given a third chance means I need to grab this opportunity and give something back."

Increasing awareness of testicular cancer is key to the expedition, said Mr Smith, as well as raising money for Cancer Research UK and Maggie's Cancer Centres.

He added: "I have always been drawn to these kinds of extreme expeditions where you push your body and mind to the limit. But upon a diagnosis of cancer, you very quickly question your own mortality. The cancer journey allowed me time to reassess my life and bring things sharply into focus about what I wanted to achieve. In preparation for the expedition, the group are building up fat reserves as they expect to lose 3000 calories daily. The four will take part in medical research with CASE - the Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment Medicine, who are a group of clinicians and scientists with an interest in extreme environments."

The team will examine how the explorers' bodies cope with profound weight loss and the stresses of the Antarctic environment. Mr Smith, the oldest in the team, said: "You are continually climbing, up to 11,000 feet, and altitude sickness is a worry. The whole journey is uphill, but you also have the winds against you the whole time."

The expedition is a dream-come-true for Alex Hibbert, who created it. He said: "Ever since I was 16, I've had this dream. I really wanted the team to do something new."