Walking with the Wounded in Antarctica
Wounded servicemen and women from the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia are embarking on the 208-mile Walking with the Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge. The charity race in Antarctica aims to raise money and awareness for disabled veterans transitioning back to civilian life.
South Pole Challenge
South Pole Challenge
The three teams competing in the Walking with the Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge: Team U.K. in the red, Team Commonwealth in the yellow and Team U.S. in the blue.
South Pole Challenge
South Pole Challenge
South Pole Challenge
South Pole Challenge
South Pole Challenge
South Pole Challenge
South Pole Challenge
Ivan Castro, one of the wounded vets participating on the U.S. team, is seen here in Afghanistan in 2005.
Castro has served in many operations including Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom, and has undertaken deployments all over the world. He lost his sight and sustained life-threatening injuries when mortar shells landed near him, killing two men in his unit, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
South Pole Challenge
Ivan Castro is led by LTC Fred Dummar while running the Marine Corps Marathon in 2010. Castro has run more than 24 marathons.
South Pole Challenge
South Pole Challenge
South Pole Challenge
Margaux Mange, center, a wounded veteran participating on the U.S. team, is seen with two Iraqi soldiers.
During her second tour in Iraq, Mange was hit by an IED while she was in the gunner’s position in a Humvee in Baghdad. She continued with her active duty until March 2007 when she witnessed her best friend and two others die in another IED accident, after which she developed Bells Palsy and was sent to rehabilitation.South Pole Challenge
Therese Frentz, right, one of two female veterans participating on the U.S. team.
In October 2004, Frentz was severely injured when a suicide bomber entered the Green Zone in Baghdad. She sustained burns to 30 percent of her body as well as internal injuries, tissue loss on the left knee, and partial hearing loss. Frentz suffers from PTSD and depression, but has improved markedly over the past years.