SAS Who Dares Wins recruit Paige Zima has dedicated herself to campaigning for mental health charities after her dad’s tragic suicide.
The 26-year-old mum-of-two from Durham found her dad dead in 2018.
She signed up to the tough Channel 4 show to be broken down after questioning whether she had handled her grief properly.
The forensic science student said: “I had been faced with multiple mental challenges throughout my life and nothing seemed to ‘break me’.
“I began to realise I was cut from a different cloth, my mindset, my resilience and sheer determination to push forward no matter what; this interested me and I wanted to explore it more.
“I questioned whether I was just masking all that hurt and pushing it aside. Wondering if I never truly dealt with all that grief because I am so accepting of what life throws at me.”
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Super fit Paige was well prepared ahead of her trip to Jordan.
Ahead of the show she did 45 minute incline sprints wearing a 15kg weighted vest and 10 mile runs with 5-10kg on her back.
She said: “Every morning I would put on my 15kg vest and 7 two-litre water bottles in a rucksack, and walk the kids to school a mile out from my home and back.
“I would use water bottles as they would slosh making it harder to move with. I would then head to the Slag-Heaps, and go up and down the heap steps for an hour.”
It was the mental side of things that Paige found toughest, but by the end she gained a better grasp of emotions and was able to use them as fuel.
She said: “I wanted to be broken down to the absolute core to reveal this something inside of me that wouldn’t allow me to make excuses or give up.
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“I wanted to be challenged in all aspects of my life to be able to learn and utilise these every day after. As well as meeting and connecting with like-minded individuals that would also help me learn and develop in life. I made a promise to myself to never lead a mediocre life but to truly live.
“This experience was about undertaking something phenomenal that I once wished I could do.”
