First breaths underwater
The beginning: equipment, breathing and getting comfortable below the surface.
From the first pool session to the Neptune Islands — this is the training, fundraising and momentum behind October 2027.
The Rodney Fox expedition includes an ocean-floor cage, so this challenge required more than courage. I needed to become a qualified diver. What started with theory and a first pool session became five confined-water stages, followed by the move towards open water.
I began my PADI Open Water training with L&P Diving & Marine Services in Penkridge. The course has involved far more theory and preparation than I expected — but every session takes me one step closer to the ocean-floor cage in Australia.
The beginning: equipment, breathing and getting comfortable below the surface.
Developing control, confidence and the core skills that everything else depends on.
By late August I had completed Confined Water 3, with two pool sessions remaining before the open-water dives.
The qualification was suddenly close. More skills, more confidence and the challenge becoming very real.
The fifth confined-water session completed in September 2026 — the end of the pool phase and the gateway to open water.
The campaign has documented the training in video from Confined Water 1 through 5, alongside GoPro footage, stills and edited updates. V2.0 turns that archive into part of the story rather than hiding it away.
At 35, while Nicky and I were expecting Alfie, a suspicious mole changed everything. Surgery, a skin graft, lymph-node biopsies and surveillance followed.
Keeping busy became part of how I coped. I took on a Macmillan Mighty Hike and raised more than £8,500.
A kidney lesion first spotted during melanoma surveillance was biopsied after years of monitoring. It was cancer.
I underwent surgery to remove the kidney tumour. During that hospital period, Luke’s Down Under: Bite Against Cancer was born.
I applied for GiveStar’s Adventure for Good grant and was successful, helping cover some of the cost of making the Australia challenge possible.
Five confined-water sessions in Penkridge began turning the shark-dive ambition into practical preparation.
A half marathon for Macmillan — dressed as a shark — to raise awareness for the wider campaign.
A community raffle grew to more than 50 donated prizes from local businesses, national supporters and Wolves.
The campaign reached BBC Midlands Today and BBC Radio WM, followed by BBC Radio 5 Live on 2 October.
Four days aboard the Rodney Fox expedition. Great White Sharks. Ocean-floor cage diving. The challenge everything is building towards.