Sir Ranulph Fiennes could lose two more fingers to frostbite after failed Antarctic trip

Updated
Sir Ranulph Fiennes could lose two more fingers to frostbite after failed Antarctic trip
Sir Ranulph Fiennes could lose two more fingers to frostbite after failed Antarctic trip



After being forced to abandon his Antarctica expedition when he developed frostbite, Sir Ranulph Fiennes has revealed that he may now lose two fingers.

The 68-year-old was injured in a fall while skiing during training at a base camp in Antarctica ahead of the Coldest Journey expedition, which was five years in the planning, the Daily Mail reports.

He then developed frostbite when he removed his outer gloves to fix a ski binding in temperatures of around minus 33C, possibly costing him two fingers.

The Daily Telegraph reports that a tired looking Sir Ranulph arrived at Heathrow Airport after an overnight flight from South Africa and said: 'I'm no good at crying over spilt milk or split fingers but it's extremely frustrating. I have working on this full-time and unpaid for five years.

'It's unavoidable so I will make the best of it by making my focus entirely on the expedition team, which is going on.'

'I'm on pills at the moment.

'The vascular surgeon I saw yesterday said that, in his opinion - he wasn't sure - two of the fingers definitely would not require surgery and two of the fingers might require surgery.'

Sir Ranulph had hoped to become the first person to ski from one side of Antarctica to the other in winter but the explorer said 'our friends the Norwegians' would probably claim the record now.

His teammates will continue with the 2,000-mile trek, experiencing some of the toughest conditions on earth, such as near-permanent darkness and temperatures as low as minus 90C.

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