Ice bound serendipity - Simon Bradshaw

I think it is fitting the evening before I leave to walk to the South Pole, celebrating the life and achievements of Earnest Shackleton's "Endurance" Expedition, to mention a very good friend of mine who first introduced me to Shackleton's story and sparked my ambition and fascination with the coldest and most remote place on earth.

Simon Bradshaw (no relation - but some would say we are brothers!) gave me my first book about the Endurance in 1998. It illustrates the remarkable story of how Shackleton saved the lives of his men in 1914 to 1916 after his ship (the Endurance) became trapped in the ice of Antarctica and eventually sank in the Weddell Sea. We are actually starting our expedition not far from where Sir Ernest Shackleton was planning to start his man-haul to the Pole and then beyond to the other side of the continent.

I remember being engrossed in this wonderful book, with the incredible photographs by Frank Hurley, over the Christmas period in '98 and I distinctly remembered thinking, what an amazing adventure it would be to walk to the pole and how brave the men were in 1914 (and earlier) who attempted such a feat. I dreamed of walking to Pole someday, but never for one second thought I would ever attempt such a crazy thing.

I never opened the book again, until 2 weeks or so ago, before I left for Ireland - in fact it had been in storage in my parents loft for many years, and I had forgotten I owned it. It is a beautiful book, hard bound and of the heavy coffee table variety, you know its going to be good before you even turn the first page. So imagine how I felt when I opened it a few weeks ago to read the following inscription, written by Simon nearly 9 years previously...

"Christmas 1998
Jon, Leading the kind of life you do you owe it to yourself to record one of your incredible adventures. You are worthy of a story like this.
Merry Christmas, the bigger, younger brother I never had.
Love Simon"

A shiver ran down my spine as I read it. I don't remember the inscription from my 1st reading all those years ago, and I was stunned at how surreal the situation was - it was then it dawned on me what I was actually going to do.

I am lucky to have friends like this. Simon, thanks for believing in me; you, Grannie and your 3 tremendous boys will be with me every step of the 1200km ahead.

Jonathon

Note: this is how weird this trip has become. When I met Pat Falvey in Greenland in August this year (only 2 months ago), he knew Grannie (Simon's wife), you can imagine how the conversation went - “Where are you from?.....Ireland....Oh I know someone in Ireland...do you know Grannie....Yes I do.....!!!!”