WARNING: BEFORE READING FURTHER, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS PHOTOS OF MS WORDSWORTH’S INJURIES

AN explorer who has become the eighth woman in history to trek to the South Pole is recovering from severe injuries after extreme conditions ravaged her leg.

Jenny Wordsworth, 34, who lives in West Hampstead, skied 715 miles solo from the frozen fringes of Antarctica to what is said to be the world’s most southern point. She was spurred on by motivational audiobooks and the 24-hour sun that she said helped her never feel tired.

But a crippling “polar thigh” injury – when skin and fat dies in extreme cold – set her back from her gruelling 16-hour-a-day sled-pulling schedule. It meant she missed out on breaking the fastest-woman world record she had been aiming for.

Ms Wordsworth, who trained for the expedition by dragging car tyres around Hampstead Heath, said: “It had been my dream to follow in the footsteps of explorers Scott and Shackleton. It didn’t matter how much pain I was in. I do a lot of endurance sport so I am used to pain, but this was really hard. I slowed right down for the last 200 miles. At that point, reaching the South Pole was enough for me.”

Ms Wordsworth developed the polar thigh condition with two weeks left of her 43-day unassisted expedition – the fastest time set by a woman is 39 days. But she made it to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station – a research centre run by Americans and named after “Scott of the Antarctic” – in what remains a significant historic achievement. When you’re out there, you think about everything and anything. I was feeling grateful for what I have – family, friends. I’m good at getting in a flow state, it’s a meditative state where the hours fly by.”

Ms Wordsworth at the Royal Free and, below, reaching the South Pole

She said she had been helped on her journey by listening to podcasts and audiobooks as motivational “treats” as she zigzagged around treacherous crevasses while admiring a “vast white landscape” and 24-hour sun that “just hovers above you”.

“I think having the sun there all the time made me feel better, it meant I never felt tired. “There are no animals – if you see an animal, you’re going the wrong way,” she added.

Describing the South Pole, she said: “The first thing you spot is the American scientific centre and observatory. No one really knows what they are doing there. There are these enormous satellites. And there are a lot of regulations. You are out in the middle of nowhere, and suddenly there are all these rules. It’s very strange. It’s beautiful, but I found it quite eerie. You can see the curvature of the Earth. The sky becomes really curved.”

Ms Wordsworth said she collapsed on a man called Dev on arrival at a South Pole camp, adding: “It was 1am, we had a couple of beers, and I looked at my legs and realised I couldn’t walk. Skiing on that injury was just the worst thing to do.”

She added: “They just gave me beer and Tramadol. That’s a really strong drug for me. I was saying please stop this now, I don’t like it. At base camp there was more alcohol.”

‘Polar thigh’ injuries

When she got back, Ms Wordsworth’s husband Matt, who is a plastic surgeon at the Royal Free, took her to the Pond Street hospital for treatment.

His colleague Alex Woollard removed dead tissue on her leg and placed a skin graft over the top. Following two operations and six nights in hospital, she is recovering – but still needs to go to hospital every two days to have her dressing changed.

Mr Woollard said: “It’s a bit like a burn, although the healing process has been slower and it’s been more painful for Jenny than a burn. When we took the dressings off the left thigh it showed an extensive area of full thickness necrosis. She will have a scar but I hope she wears it with pride – a testament to her incredible achievement.”

Ms Wordsworth has been dragging tyres around the Heath she bought from the Kwik Fit in Gospel Oak.

She recommends the David Goggins podcast to listen to on polar adventures. Ms Wordsworth was speaking to the New Journal from Cyprus where she is training for her next adventure, up Mount Lobuche in the Nepal.