BIOGRAPHY
Karen Darke is an extraordinary human being, and a woman who has touched the lives of many through her spirit for adventure. A keen runner and mountaineer, she was paralysed in a rock-climbing accident on a Scottish sea cliff at the age of twenty-one. Facing a life in a wheelchair, Karen chose to fight preconceived ideas of just what was possible for someone who could feel nothing below their chest.

In 1997, just four years after her accident, Karen crossed the Tien Shan and Karakoram mountains of Central Asia on a hand bike, raising £12000 for charity. This amazing achievement was to be the first of many adventures which would see Karen hand cycle the length of the Japanese archipelago, sea kayak a 1200 mile length of the Canada – Alaska coastline, cross the Indian Himalaya by hand cycle and ski the Valle Blanche in the Alps.

In 2006 Karen made a record-breaking 600 kilometre crossing of the Greenland ice cap on a sit-ski, a month long journey across one the world’s last great expanses of wilderness, where winds can reach 200 miles per hour and temperatures drop below 40 degrees. In 2007, Karen made the bold decision to return to the rock face, climbing to the summit of the mighty El Capitan in Yosemite after pulling her own body up using just her arms in over 4000 pull-ups.

Just one of these challenges is more than most of us will attempt in our lifetime.  Yet Karen currently has her sights set on a new challenge - to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Para-olympics. This August, Karen will be competing at the paracycling World Championships in Canada. Success in this event will bring her one step closer to achieving her dream.

MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKING
Modest and thoughtful, Karen is a highly sought after motivational speaker. Karen applies her experiences from her expeditions and her expertise developed whilst working for Shell (where she worked in Human Resources in their European Learning & Development team – co-ordinating mentoring, coaching, personal and team development) to give inspiring presentations to corporate clients and school children alike.

“What is life if it isn’t an adventure? Disabled is a state of mind not a state of body, and I’m constantly amazed by what can be achieved if we set our heart and mind to it. It’s all about finding belief, confidence, motivation and commitment. And of course friends. Then there are no limits.”

WHAT OTHERS SAY...
“I just wanted to offer my thanks for delivering what was an excellent speech and one which left myself and, judging by the comments afterwards, others, feeling in awe, motivated and inspired by your achievements.”

Damian Hughes, HR Operations Manager, Unilever

"Just meeting Karen is an uplifting experience at a personal level, her passion and enthusiasm are bound to rub off on anyone who works with her. She is a natural communicator & coach, working equally effectively one to one, with small teams and in large group situations. I admire the way she has turned life changing personal difficulties into positive opportunities and ever stretching challenges."

Steve Spreckley , Internal Change Consultant, Shell Europe