A PROFOUNDLY deaf Bretforton footballer tackled SAS jungle hell in Vietnam to raise awareness of the challenges and struggles deaf people face on a daily basis.
Jamie Clarke, the captain of the England and Great Britain deaf football teams and Pershore Town striker, is recruit number 17 on the new series of SAS: Who Dares Wins – Jungle Hell.
The 32-year-old will be among 20 ordinary men and women who will enter jungle hell in Thung Ui, North Vietnam to attempt to complete the punishing phase of SAS selection.
And ahead of taking to our screens, Jamie revealed his desire to do the course was to be taken further out of his comfort zone. He also wanted to prove deaf people are just as capable as anyone else.
The engaged model was born profoundly deaf and is the only deaf member of his family. He was given a cochlear implant when he was six years old and found it overwhelming hearing sounds for the first time.
He now prefers not wear it as he often prefers the peacefulness of silence.
Growing up, Jamie was popular at school because he was good at football and started playing for Worcester before being scouted by England’s deaf football team.
Jamie has played in major tournaments such as the World Cup, Deaflympics and Euro Champs and is the highest goal scorer in the GB deaf team’s history. He will lead his country again at two tournaments this summer.
“I decided to take part because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and face these difficult challenges, prove to myself and others being completely deaf doesn’t mean I am any different to anyone else and I am able to compete just as well as anyone else,” he said.
He admitted he ‘didn’t really eat’ which left him lacking energy when facing the challenges posed by the show’s notorious directing staff led by Billy Billingham.
“I’m not as fit as I thought I was. I thought I was very fit but there are others who are on a different kind of level,” he said.
“The training on the parade square was the most brutal thing I’ve ever done in my whole life. I would never want to do it again!
In addition to fearing he would fail a task because of a lack of communication, Jamie said he was most nervous about being stuck in the dark.
“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,” he added.
• SAS Who Dares Wins – Jungle Hell starts on Channel 4 on Monday (January 23).
