AS a firefighter, mum and fitness fan Lynsey Donoghue knows all about tough challenges.

Even so the 34-year-old from Otley admits she wasn’t prepared for just how gruelling her participation on Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week would be.

Lynsey ended up going through all kinds of torments under the South African sun as a contestant in the second series of the BBC2 show.

Sleep deprivation, runs in full kit, forced ice baths, treks carrying concrete blocks and having to consume the stomach contents of a springbok were just some of the trials involved.

Hard as they were though, the toughest test for Lynsey turned out to be being apart from her children Maddie, 11, and Josh, five, for the filming.

“The hardest physical challenge for me was in the first 48 hours when we had to eat the raw liver from a springbok and rehydrate by drinking its stomach juices,” said Lynsey. “You can imagine the smell and I was gagging but I couldn’t say no, because that would have marked my card, so I thought I’ll just do it.

“I found leaving the children very hard; they were only ten and four at the time of the filming and you’re not allowed any contact for the duration, no phone calls or anything.

“I know two weeks might not sound a long time but it really did feel it, and when you’re sleep deprived and your mind’s beginning to wander it feels worse.

“So that was my weakness - but there were 22 of us and everyone had their own individual weakness.”

It was Lynsey’s partner, Richard Mowat, who had suggested she apply for the show.

She said: “We watched the first series, which was in the Brecon Beacons, and it was just like the training I do and I enjoy a challenge.

“My other half said I should enter so I did - and I ended up in South Africa!

“I’m not some superhuman athlete, I’m pretty normal and enjoy a glass of wine but I do some training as a form of stress relief and, living in Otley, I enjoy running around all the great countryside we have.

“I also have to train for my job so when I saw the training programme for the show I thought ‘well I do that anyway!’”

The show sees the volunteers working with six different special forces instructors - each with their own techniques for ‘breaking’ recruits - over 48 hour stretches.

Lynsey, still in contention after two episodes, can’t say how she ultimately fared but is urging people to keep watching: “I don’t quit easily, so stay tuned and support me!”

Her time in the spotlight, meanwhile, made her an obvious choice to help promote West Yorkshire Fire Service’s new recruitment drive - and it is her image that welcomes visitors to joinwyfirefighters.com

A 5ft 4ins tall firefighter who joined the service aged 19, Lynsey is currently working for the recruitment team while expecting her third child and agreed to be the face of the campaign.

l Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week is shown at 9pm on Sundays on BBC2.