Filmmaker's 'dream' finding Attenborough creatures

"Nature is for everyone and everyone should be able to access it, regardless of your background or disability."

For filmmaker Ryan Eddowes though, that idea, getting closer to nature, was not straightforward as he was born with clubfoot, his feet painfully turning inward and downwards.

His condition became so severe that the 30-year-old had his right leg amputated below the knee and has to wear a brace on his left.

But he said his disability would not stop him from a passion project - documenting 40 creatures named after Sir David Attenborough, a quest personally endorsed by the broadcaster and naturalist.

Getting Sir David's approval by letter "that for me is just a dream come true", Eddowes, from Wolverhampton, said.

"To me, as a child who was inspired by Sir David, to have a letter from him saying 'yes, go and travel the world' is special."

The 30-year-old said his love of wildlife began when his grandparents introduced him to the outdoors and the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.

Since those childhood moments, he became a qualified zoologist at Bangor University and a herpetologist, a specialist in amphibians and reptiles.

Throughout, he had to cope with the pain from his clubfoot "getting worse and worse, to the point when I was crawling to the toilet, incredibly painful" until he had the amputation in 2024.

"For the last two years, I've had no pain whatsoever," Eddowes said.

"Now I can access all of these places, I've got this whole new lease of life.

"I can sort of go on these amazing adventures and try and bring that inclusivity and diversity to wildlife presenting and nature conservation

Like many people, having grown up watching Sir David, he said he decided that, with the naturalist's 100th birthday approaching this month, he would turn his passion for nature into a quest.

Eddowes is aiming to document all the creates named after the broadcaster, from bizarre frogs and dragonflies to strange plants and ancient fossils.

He wrote to Sir David who replied within the week, thanking him and admitting he was "very flattered" by the idea and wishing him luck.

"He's gone on all these amazing adventures when he was younger," Eddowes said.

"I've always wanted to do these things but having a disability made it very difficult but I feel like now is the time I can go and achieve those things."

His first episode in the series, Attenborough's Animals: An Accessible Adventure, will air on Friday, Sir David's 100th birthday, with the next episode to follow in 2027.

Normally he said he filmed on his own but his fiancee Lauren had become his camerawoman and was also flying their drone "a bit".

"I wanted to showcase that, even with a disability, you can present, you can be out in the wild," Eddowes smiled.

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