John McAleese.

Fit, tough as nails, dies at 62?
Did he overdrink or something, or was it psychological due to the kids dying?
Seems strange he should die so young.
BBC says suspected heart attack. His heart may have been susceptible to it all his life, made worse through massive exertion. Outside factors caused by the loss of his son - drink? - stress? - may have exacerbated it. We'll never know.

Either way a man who probably did more for this country than we will ever be told is gone in sad circumstances.

Condolences to all the friends and family involved.
 
Fit, tough as nails, dies at 62?
Did he overdrink or something, or was it psychological due to the kids dying?
Seems strange he should die so young.

Not strange or particularly unusual, treat the body harshly most of your life and it will show as you get older. I know a lot of old soldiers who suffer from all sorts of old injuries, bad joints, and other health issues such as heart problems etc because of the nature of their former occupation.

You pay in later life for the excesses of your youth, and that includes pushing yourself to your physical limits on a regular basis.

Work hard, play hard. Pay when your dead.
 
I am certainly not familiar with the rigours of Selection and operational details of what the SAS endure but I can't imagine it to be easy in any way, shape or form and imagine the operational tempo to be severe.

A mates dad in ex SAS ( yes, he really is ) and his time in there was during the times of the Aden campaign in the late 60s and while he never really goes into detail, he always said the mental challenges outweighed the physical ones.
 
Some more of John McAleese here. This shows where he actually meets one of the people he helped to rescue during the Iranian Embassy siege.

 
I found Chris Ryan's version a better read.

It's all a bit different now with the JSP, and amalgamation of UKSF under a single command.

Either way it is ridiculously hard to pass with only 10 out of around 150 selectees becoming probbies and even then many are RTU'd within the year. The E&E and TQ training being the hurdle most fail to pass or are found unable to cope, especially the latter.
 
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