I was born and raised in SouthWest London. My father was a lawyer, and my mother was a stay-at-home housewife. Although my father was a paraplegic, as far as I was concerned, it didn’t make the slightest difference to his role as a father or to my upbringing. Basically I had a fairly straightforward childhood.

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My early school years, while enjoyable, were a bit of a struggle due to my dyslexia. I found many classroom activities difficult, but I excelled on the sports field. As a youngster, I was fairly stocky, and my mother had noticed a curvature in my spine—but no doctor paid much attention to it at the time.

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At age 13, I joined Cranleigh School, where my older brother and cousins were already studying. During a routine school medical exam, the curvature in my spine was finally identified. This marked the beginning of a four-year journey of wearing a rigid back brace throughout my teenage years.

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While academic challenges persisted, I found inspiration and success in the school's art studio, theatre (especially in set design), and on the sports field—when I was able to negotiate with doctors to play. The boarding school environment suited me well. I graduated in 2000 with A-Levels in Art, Geography, and Theatre Studies, as well as an officially “averagely straight” back.

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After taking a gap year to travel the world, I went on to study Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Gloucestershire. I was finally able to return to competitive sport and became heavily involved in ski club, cricket, and rugby league. I captained the rugby league team, which was ranked the second-best university team in the country at the time.

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It was in 2003 that I bought my first bike, inspired by the cycling fever surrounding Lance Armstrong. This moment sparked the journey I’m still on today. Over the next nine years, I worked as a personal trainer, eventually opening my own studio in southwest London from 2006 to 2012. This career path gave me the flexibility to pursue the endurance events I was beginning to love—100-mile runs, ultra-distance triathlons, and ultimately, rowing across the Atlantic in 2010.

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In 2012, I made the bold decision to move to Australia to experience a different lifestyle and continue developing both personally and athletically. Between early 2014 and late 2015, I returned to the UK to care for my father during his final years. After his passing, I returned to Australia, married my then-girlfriend, and we began building our family. Along the way, I completed my second Triple Iron Triathlon in late 2015, on the journey back to Australia.

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Back in Australia, I shifted my focus to a new project—Challenge Chaser Retreat, a 30-acre eco-tourism resort about three hours north of Sydney. From the initial planning and construction to running the retreat, the project consumed most of my energy and time, especially as my wife and I welcomed our two daughters into the world. Our first daughter was born prematurely at 29 weeks, which came with its own challenges. It was during this period, I also underwent full spinal fusion surgery, from T2 to L3—something I had known since 1996 I would likely need around the age of 40.

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In late 2023, I felt the urge to test myself again and committed to what would become one of the most grueling challenges I’ve ever taken on: 30 marathons in 30 days. The event went surprisingly well, with most marathons completed smoothly. However, by day 27 or 28, I began experiencing severe back pain. Upon returning home, scans revealed that I had unknowingly completed the entire challenge with six broken rods in my spine. In mid-2024, just four weeks after finishing the marathons, I underwent surgery to replace the damaged hardware with new rods and screws—bringing me to where I am today.

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Having sold our retreat in early 2025, I now live with my family in Newcastle, NSW, along with our beloved cat and dog.