Jennifer Murray is rich, well connected and glamorous. She has been presented to the Queen and counts the Duchess of York among her friends. She’s also addicted to extreme challenges and in love with her tiny, cherry-red, Robinson R44 helicopter.

She describes learning to fly as changing her two-dimensional life into a three-dimensional one. ‘You are a bird, you can soar, you have the freedom of the sky,’ she explains, ‘and it’s intoxicating.’

Jennifer got her pilot’s licence in 1994, aged 54. Just three years later she entered the Guiness Book of Records as the first woman to fly round the world in a helicopter. In 2000, together with co-pilot Colin Bodill, she came third in the London to Sydney Air Race, setting a new helicopter world speed record. Then in 2003, Jennifer and Colin attempted to fly round the world via both the South and North Pole. Unfortunately this daring venture ended with a dramatic crash that almost cost them their lives. ‘Adrenalin was at an all-time high, with a surreal feeling that this couldn't be happening,’ Jennifer recalls. ‘My heart was beating overtime and then, unbelievably - for a fleeting moment - we saw, thousands of feet directly below us, bare rocks and snow.’

The near-fatal accident happened in a minus 50-degree blizzard. Colin was the most badly injured, suffering a broken back, two broken ribs, a split liver, damaged kidneys and internal bleeding. But although Jennifer got off relatively lightly with a broken a rib and dislocated shoulder, she found herself incapacitated by shock. Miraculously Colin, drawing on super-human reserves, managed to erect a tent to shelter them while they awaited rescuers. This saved their lives.

Despite this experience the two adventurers were determined to make a second attempt. It was ‘unfinished business’, a ghost they had to lay to rest. In 2007, Jennifer, now aged 66 and Colin twelve years younger, successfully completed the epic, 32,000 nautical-mile journey. It was an outstanding feat of skill and endurance that took 171 gruelling days. Their reward was another world record. In a quote summing up her spirit of indomitable perseverance, Jennifer said,  'You’ve not failed until you stop trying.’
How inspiring!