A paraplegic wheelchair adventurer from Lancaster is getting ready for his most ambitious challenge to date.
Shaun Gash will lead the Komodo Challenge this September, embarking on a six-day expedition across Indonesia’s remote Komodo National Park alongside a team of four other wheelchair users.
The expedition will raise vital funds for four charities: Spinal Research, Spinal Injuries Scotland, Leukaemia Luke UK, and Chameleon Bodies.
Shaun, 55, and the team will kayak more than 100km through open ocean during manta ray and turtle migration season, navigating powerful currents, long distances and unpredictable conditions.
When on the water, each team member will kayak independently, supported by boats carrying wheelchairs, food, tents and safety equipment.
The team will depart on September 14, travelling via Bali and Labuan Bajo, before entering Komodo National Park on September 17.
They will camp on uninhabited islands, including the famous Pink Beach, operating with full permissions and armed park rangers due to the presence of Komodo dragons.
The Komodo Challenge follows Shaun’s Zambezi River expedition in 2024 – a 300km-long canoe trek in hippo-filled waters – but brings added complexity. The ocean means stronger currents and longer distances, and the need for stronger safety planning.
“This is absolutely my most ambitious challenge to date – nothing’s ever come close to it in terms of difficulty," said Shaun.
“It’s been months in planning, and training is ongoing, but I couldn’t be more excited to get started. We’ve assembled the absolute dream team, and I know everyone has got what it takes to see this challenge through.
“I’m mostly looking forward to visiting Pink Beach. But more than that, it’s about proving these places don’t have to be off‑limits.”
Shaun and his wife Dawn pictured during their Zambezi challenge in 2024
Shaun was paralysed from the chest down following a car crash at the age of 20.
In 2018, he lost half of his right leg in a mountaineering accident.
Rather than scaling back his ambitions, he has continued to pursue increasingly challenging expeditions, driven by a belief that action is the most powerful way to change perceptions.
"People still underestimate what wheelchair users can do," he said.
"If this changes how even a few organisations or individuals think, it’s worth it.”
Three team members will use RGK FX wheelchairs, chosen for their ability to fold compactly for boat transport and perform well on varied terrain once ashore, with additional front wheels providing off-road stability.
The expedition is supported by Sunrise Medical, the parent group of RGK, which has helped fund support boats and crew. Shaun, who works as an International Product Specialist for RGK, says authenticity was central to the expedition.
“I wanted to use the same type of equipment people rely on day to day,” said Shaun.
“It helps show that independence and adventure aren’t separate things – they’re connected.”
The journey has required months of dialogue with expedition operators, adjusting safety protocols and logistics to accommodate wheelchair users at sea.
“The operators are learning too – and that’s how lasting change happens," said Shaun.
Ultimately, Shaun hopes the Komodo Challenge will inspire greater ambition and inclusion across travel and adventure industries.
“So often the answer is no before the question has really been explored," said Shaun.
"We want to show that with planning, support and the right mindset, accessibility in extreme environments is absolutely achievable.
“If this sparks support, challenges assumptions, or shifts perceptions about where wheelchair users belong, then it will have made a meaningful difference.”
Donations can be made to Shaun’s fundraiser 'Rollin' Round the Komodos' HERE.
Shaun was awarded the MBE by King Charles III for services to charity and disabled people in the New Year Honours List 2025, and presented with the honour by Princess Anne in a ceremony late last year.
His past successful challenges have included sky diving and scuba diving, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and travelling in his chair from Land's End to John O'Groats.
In 2024 Shaun set two new world records - including being the first paraplegic amputee to canoe the Zambezi river.
He and two other wheelchair users were part of a team who successfully canoed 280km from Chirundu in Zambia to the Mozambique border.
Along the way they encountered elephants, hippos, crocodiles and lions, and had to deal with flat tyres and capsized canoes, but achieved their goal after seven days.
They raised money for Spinal Research and Whizz Kidz, the UK's leading charity for young wheelchair users.
Along the way, Shaun, his wife Dawn and the team helped the local Zambian community by delivering supplies to a school and medical centre.
Two weeks before going to Zambia, Shaun achieved another world record in Egypt.
He and his friend Mohammed Salim Patel, a blind BBC journalist from Blackburn, became the first paraplegic and visually impaired person to dive 40m and be underwater for 60 minutes.
They had trained with Morecambe Area Divers at Capernwray Diving Centre in Carnforth, and featured in a documentary series on BBC North West Tonight.
In 2025, Shaun dived the Bells Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt, which is known as 'divers' graveyard' due to the high number of fatalities.
The Blue Hole, on the coast of the Red Sea, has a maximum depth of just over 100m (328 feet), and is in such a remote location that Shaun had to be carried on a stretcher to reach the entrance.
Read more: Lancaster paraplegic amputee adventurer receives MBE - Beyond Radio
LISTEN: Inspiring Lancaster paraplegic adventurer takes on deadly scuba dive - Beyond Radio
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