'It's unbelievably tedious' - Ed Jackson to climb stairs 2,783 times
Quadriplegic ex-rugby player Ed Jackson is hauling himself up and down his staircase at home as he bids to climb the equivalent of Everest to raise money for charity during the coronavirus pandemic. The former Bath and Wasps flanker suffered spinal cord injuries in a diving accident in 2017, and was warned he might never walk again.
But, through sheer hard work and determination, Jackson has defied that prognosis to the point that he can walk with the aid of braces and, after climbing Snowdon for charity in 2018, he set a goal of becoming the first quadriplegic to climb Everest.
That idea might be on hold for now, but the 31-year-old is doing his best to recreate it during lockdown – raising money for both the NHS and Wings for Life, the spinal cord research foundation.
“Last week I was just watching the news and obviously Captain Tom (Moore) was pretty inspiring,” Jackson told the PA news agency. “I spoke to one of my mates who’d raised some money and I thought rather than cheering on from the sofa it was time I did something myself.
“The original idea was to climb the height of Snowdon, which I would have finished yesterday lunchtime, but it morphed into doing the height of Everest over four days and camping at the bottom of the stairs.”
To reach his goal, Jackson – who can only push himself up with his right leg – must climb the stairs an incredible 2,783 times.
On his first day on Tuesday, Jackson found each effort took him about a minute – longer than he hoped – so he has had to schedule in an extra two hours a day to make this a 12-hour-a-day effort.
“It’s a journey into the unknown both physically and mentally because it’s unbelievably tedious,” said Jackson, who uses Instagram Live to connect with others twice a day, but otherwise spends huge amounts of time on his own, with only some confused dogs to keep him company.
“They’ve just been sitting at the bottom of the stairs wondering why I’m going up and down rather than taking them for a walk,” he said.
“Last night my bulldog Barry got into the tent with me but fortunately I was so tired his snoring didn’t keep me awake.”
Jackson also has his family around, although that is not always helpful.
“My step mum chucked a bucket of ice over me yesterday and shouted, ‘Avalanche!’ which was very good of her,” he said.
“I kindly reminded her I’d only done about 1500m which is the same as Kathmandu. It’s about 40 degrees in Kathmandu at the moment so there won’t be too many avalanches.
“But I have temperature regulation issues because of my injuries so it was quite nice because I’ve been pretty warm to say the least.”
Jackson suffered a fracture dislocation of his C6/C7 vertebrae in 2017. During his first week in hospital he had no sensations at all and resigned himself to a worst-case scenario.
But as some feeling slowly returned, he was able to discharge himself after three and a half months, got out of his wheelchair within nine months, climbing Snowdon within the year.
He still faces enormous challenges in his day-to-day life, remaining disabled down the left side of his body, but said in other ways what happened to him had been a “gift”.
“Your perspective shifts when something like that happens,” he said. “We’re all going through a weird time at the moment but I think it will help in the long run for a lot of us because it will give people a bit of perspective shift.
“It’s only from times like this that you grow. It’s been a hell of a journey but it’s not all been negative.”
Comments on RugbyPass
excellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to comments