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FPG’s intrepid Director, Rob Clarke, has arrived home after successfully trekking to the South Pole to raise money for children’s health care. The trek was organised by the Humpty Dumpty foundation, which has a 15 year history of providing vital life-saving medical equipment for under-funded neonatal and paediatric wards across the country.

The team of 5 trekkers, including our very own Rob, departed on 1 January for what would prove to be a physically challenging yet intensely rewarding experience. They reached the South Pole at 7.00 am on 17 January, on the 100-year anniversary of Robert Falcon Scott’s arrival there during the notorious Terra Nova expedition in 1912.

But unlike Scott’s ill-fated journey, these five brave Aussies arrived in good health and in good spirits, after trekking an incredible 111 kilometres in tough conditions - braving wind chills of minus 48 degrees.

Says Rob Clarke of his experience, “I got very emotional as I approached the South Pole ... it was the culmination of 15 months of fundraising and physical and mental preparation. To achieve the goal on the centenary of when Robert Falcon Scott walked on the very same spot 100 years before was simply inspiring!”

Rob felt compelled to become involved in the trek after being personally touched by the good work Humpty Dumpty does. It was their vital equipment that saved the life of Rob’s prematurely newborn relative a few years ago.

“What other incentive did I need to participate in this most amazing adventure and raise over $100,000 for the foundation?” says Rob.

In the last five years alone, Humpty has purchased more than 1,000 pieces of essential medical equipment that have helped save the lives of sick and injured children and newborn babies.

Daily progress updates of the team’s incredible journey to the Pole can be viewed at http://www.expenews.com/en/expeditions/236/dispatches/3440.

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