Jamie Clarke, the captain of both England and Great Britain’s deaf football team has been announced as a contestant in the latest series SAS: Who Dares Wins with the aim of raising national deaf awareness during the competition.
Clarke (32) is the first profoundly deaf contestant to be put through the extreme endurance program, where his limits will be tested by ex-special force operatives in Thung Ui, North Vietnam.
Speaking about why he signed up for the show, Clarke said: “What I was hoping to get out of this experience was to hopefully raise awareness of deaf people and how we communicate and struggle on a daily basis.”
“I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and face these difficult challenges. Prove to myself and others that being completely deaf doesn’t mean that I am any different to anyone else and I am able to compete just as well as anyone else.”
He has admitted, however, he was nervous about being trapped in darkness. He said “I obviously can’t hear, so not being able to see anything is the worst thing ever. one of the tasks on the course was crawling through a tunnel in pitch black. It was quite scary because the tunnel was getting smaller and smaller toward the end, but thankfully I remained calm and positive.”
However, Clarke has already proved he is up for the challenge, being a world-class sportsman, playing in major tournaments, including the Euro Champs, Deaflympics and World Cup. He is also the highest goal scorer ever for GB deaf football.
You can watch Jamie and the other contestants on SAS: Who Dares Wins returns to screens on Monday 23rd January on Channel 4.