A PARALYMPIC gold medallist will speak in Abingdon as part of the Horizon Lectures series.

Karen Darke will tell guests at the Abingdon School's Amey Theatre on Tuesday, November 14 about her incredible story.

As a young adult she filled her time with adventures in the outdoors – running, climbing and exploring as much as she could and by the age of 21 had climbed the Matterhorn and won the Swiss KIMM Mountain Marathon until, one day, she fell while climbing sea cliffs in Scotland.

When she woke in hospital she was paralysed from the chest down and was told she would never walk, climb or cycle again.

But she kept her love of adventure and with the help of friends, perseverance and a little creativity has continued to push herself and explore the outdoors.

She has hand-cycled across the Himalayas, traversed the Greenland ice cap in a sit-ski and climbed the 3000ft southeast face of El-Capitan.

In recent years, she has also gone on to join the British Para-Cycling Team, memorably crossing the line hand-in-hand with her team mate to win silver at the London 2012 Paralympics, followed by a gold medal at Rio 2016.

The lecture starts at 7.30pm, tickets are £12.50 and are available vi a he Horizon Lecture series website.