Meet an Ironman with a soft heart - Sam Davis!

Crossing the red carpet finish of his first Ironman event in Tenby on Sunday evening, 25-year-old Sam carried a banner proposing to his girlfriend Georgie Anderson!

Sam, who runs a poultry wholesalers in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, lost his grandad to cancer about a year-and-a-half ago and decided he wanted to give something back to Velindre Cancer Centre.

“With my best mate, I came up with the idea that I would compete in Ironman Wales, having never taken part in a triathlon of any sort before,” explained Sam.

“So I bought a training book online and stuck to it like the Bible.

“I started the gruelling training programme, which alongside working a physical full-time job almost killed me! I’m telling you, getting up at 4 am for one day is bad enough! Try it for eight months.

“All the way through I had this amazing support from Georgie,” continued Sam.

However, when Georgie, an intensive care nurse, went on a trip to Las Vegas with friends at week 19 of Sam’s 30-week training programme, drama struck.

Sam continued: “I came off my bike at 30 mph head first into a stone wall. If I hadn’t had my helmet on, I’d be dead. I couldn’t walk for three days. On the one side it slowed my training down, but on the plus, it made me realise how much I need Georgie and how much of a selfish year it had been. So I limped into Cardiff with the help of mum and bought her a diamond ring!”

Sam then decided he would ask Georgie to marry him at the finish line and made a special sign.

“Even up to the last loop of the marathon, I didn’t know where the sign was,” Sam explained. “It just happened mum managed to get it to me and I managed it. It seemed like the perfect time, an end of an truly epic journey and the start of another.”

“A 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, 26.2-mile marathon, £2,000 raised for Velindre and a beautiful fiancée all in 11 hours and 40 minutes. Some would say an Ironman with a soft heart.”

“The all-round support of my friends and family, especially Matt Wilcox for writing me a letter which brought me to tears the morning before the race, was amazing and I cannot thank them enough for helping me earn myself Ironman status.”