Ed Stafford
| Ed Stafford | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
26 December 1975 Peterborough, England |
| Occupation | Explorer |
Edward James Stafford, known as Ed Stafford (born 26 December 1975), is an English explorer. He holds the Guinness World Record for being the first human ever to walk the length of the Amazon River. Stafford now hosts shows on Discovery Channel.
Stafford was born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England and raised in Leicestershire. He was adopted as a baby by Barbara and Jeremy Stafford, who were both solicitors in Leicestershire. Stafford joined the British Army in 1998, serving as an infantry officer in the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment. After completing an operational tour of Northern Ireland in 2000, Stafford left the Army as a captain in 2002. It was after his expedition to the Amazon in 2010 that Stafford began a search for his biological parents, whom he managed to track with the help of his sister, Janie. Says Stafford upon the reason for searching for his biological family; “There had always been this background intrigue. I looked for my birth family, not because I needed new parents in my life, but because it’s just inherent to want to know.” From his biological family, he has two younger brothers. Ed was educated at Uppingham and was a Cub and a Scout in Leicestershire as a boy and considers it a key component in his upbringing that led him to a life as an expedition leader.
On 9 August 2010, he became the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River, documented in the 2011 TV series Walking the Amazon on Channel 5. Stafford's expedition began with a friend, Luke Collyer, on 2 April 2008, on the southern coast of Peru. Collyer left after three months, and Stafford completed the journey with Gadiel “Cho” Sánchez Rivera. He undertook the attempt for several charities.
In May 2009 Stafford appeared on the cover of the Royal Geographical Society's Geographical magazine.
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