After suffering a catastrophic and almost fatal spinal cord injury, professional rugby player Ed Jackson’s world changed forever. THE MOUNTAIN WITHIN ME follows Ed’s journey on his recovery as he achieves the mental and physical heights of Snowdonia, the Alps and Himalayas to the life-altering challenges closer to home. From multi-award-winning director, Polly Steele and BAFTA and EMMY nominated producer, George Chignell, THE MOUNTAIN WITHIN ME is an inspiring, thought-provoking documentary about unexpected change, hope and finding renewed purpose in life. Ed Jackson is a former Rugby Union player who played at the highest level, but in April 2017 he was involved in a serious accident where he broke his neck and a serious spinal cord injury. This left him paralyzed from the neck down and doctors told him he would never walk again. When faced with life-changing injuries, Ed Jackson harnessed his determination to create a future for himself, his wife and his family that most thought impossible. This documentary follows Ed, and his wife Lois, as they undertake an extraordinary journey through the past and present and honestly discuss their future and the impact of living with a disability.

Polly is an award winning, independent, film-maker renowned for her ability to tell compelling and sensitive stories. She trusts that the right combination of light, sound and love will create beauty and expose truth. She has made films for all of the UK’s major broadcasters, & produced/developed fiction as MD for Rocket Pictureswith Elton John and David Furnish and for her own company In Trust Films. She is in post production on Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams, starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne, and has just completed a feature length documentary for Universal Pictures entitled The Mountain within Me, featuring Ed Jackson, ex rugby player, author of “Lucky”, premiering at the Edinburgh Festival in 2024. She is a trained life coach and has made many films around the subject of trauma. She believes we are currently living through an epidemic of trauma induced mental health issues and this is one of the reasons she chose to direct The Mountain Within me.