An Aberystwyth man is planning to celebrate half a century on this planet by lifting half a tonne to raise money for Bronglais Hospital chemotherapy unit.

Hywel Davies has been training for weeks in the run-up to his 50th birthday on 4 April, slowly building up the amount of weight he can lift, and improving his technique. With little under a month left, he’s only 25kg short of his target of 500kg.

For Mr Davies, sport, and the challenge to push himself is something he holds deeply close to his heart.

He is a keen rugby fan, and once, it looked like he would be a first team player for the Scarlets.

But this changed when he suffered potentially life changing injuries after a car accident.

After a six month coma, Mr Davies had to learn to walk, and to speak again.

But he never lost the determination and ‘tenacity’ which brought him back to the sports he loves.

As soon as he was discharged, he ran a triathlon with his dad to raise money for Morriston Hospital, who had treated him for most of this time.

He hopes his campaign to lift 500kg will do the same for Bronglais Hospital, who provided him with ‘exceptional’ care and support for many years afterwards.

Not long after running the triathlon, Mr Davies was back to competing. He was chosen to represent Wales in a competition for athletes who’d come back from injury.

Mr Davies’ success is something he attributes to the people who supported him after the accident.

He told the Cambrian News: “After the accident, I had mum, dad, my brother and the whole family supporting me. Not to mention the rugby clubs across Tregaron, Lampeter and Aberystwyth. I could not possibly thank everyone enough for all the kindness and amazing work they did for me.”

Mr Davies’ ‘tenacious’ attitude came from the inspiration he took from many professional athletes, including many world famous Jamaican sprinters. Mr Davies said: “Rowland Phillips is a big motivator to me, not only him but also the Jamaican sprinters Yohan Blake, Nesta Carter and Usain Bolt. I love the Jamaican attitude, it’s very similar to the Welsh way.”

Rowland Phillips was once an inspiration to him, but Mr Phillips said the same about Mr Davies. The two met last year as Mr Phillips was on holiday in Aberystwyth, and kept in touch ever since.

Mr Phillips said: “It’s beyond comprehension for him to bounce back from his injuries as much as he has - you have to be a fighter, and I see it in him every time we speak, he’s got tenacity. In his position, anyone could have looked back and looked at what they’ve lost, but I know for him, he looks at it through everything he gained from it.

“The amount of weight he’s trying to lift - the amount of weight he will lift - that’s a top end challenge. When we were training we had a proper weights program, and that’s how much we, as top end athletes, were pushing. To be doing it against the body weight he has, it’s going into the realm of ridiculous”

Hywel will be taking on the challenge on 4 April when he celebrates his 50th birthday and is hoping to raise £5,000 for Hywel Dda Health Charities.