Hippy parents take son, 2, to live on a desert island in ‘ultimate survival experiment’

A British couple put their two-year-old son through an “ultimate survival experiment” on an Indonesian island with limited food and water.

These off-grid parents spent a month living on a desert island with their two-year-old son — and claim there’s just as much danger at home.

Explorers Ed Stafford and Laura Bingham took son Ran to Merak Island in Indonesia for one of their most extreme survival challenges yet, The Sun reported.

Despite having no easy access to water, food or tools, the family say they believe living in the UK holds just as much danger due to recent knife crime.

Ed Stafford and wife Laura Bingham took son Ran, 2, to Merak island in Indonesia. Picture: Discovery Channel

“There are always dangerous things that could happen but you mitigate the risks as much as possible,” Mr Stafford, 43, told The Mirror.

“You know, if you’re really unlucky you could just as much come a cropper in Chiswick (London).”

Ms Bingham said people in the UK could even “get stabbed in the park”.

The couple, who are set to star in Ed Stafford: Man Woman Child Wild on the Discovery Channel in the UK, admitted the trip was packed with risk.

Mr Stafford said having Ran with them meant they were “never relaxed”.

“I didn’t know how we were going to do it at first and make sure Ran didn’t do anything really really dangerous,” he said.

The couple travelled to the island this year for one of their most extreme survival challenges yet. Picture: Discovery Channel

“I had this vision of making Ran a harness out of vines and I even read about a Japanese tribe where, when women are working, they bury their kids up to the neck in soil.”

Mr Stafford said he quickly realised that the technique to keeping his family safe was to remain “present and aware”.

The couple, who hold the Guinness World Record for being the first to walk the 6400km length of the Amazon River, were married in 2016 in Ed’s home village in Leicestershire.

They named baby Ran after explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Ms Bingham said they decided to do the TV show in a bid to “inspire families to take more risks with their children”.

The couple did admit the trip came with risks. Picture: Discovery Channel

“We were at an indoor play centre recently and some of the kids got stuck on some tiny ladders because they were too scared to go up or down, but Ran was going head first down a big slide,” the 26-year-old said.

For their month on the island, the family took just a few knives, some bananas and the clothes they were wearing.

They were forced to build their own shelter, fish for food and even source clean water while trying to keep little Ran out of trouble.

While filming the series, which was filmed entirely by the couple, they said they learned a number of lessons — including not to argue as “arguments weren’t a luxury that we could afford” on a desert island.

The family took the bare necessities for their one-month stay on the island. Picture: Discovery Channel

Despite having dreams of continuing their adventures with Ran and future children, Ms Bingham admitted that if their lifestyle ever became detrimental to their offspring, they would stop.

“We’ve always said throughout being together that we are constantly evaluating our way of living and if it ever became detrimental to Ran or our future children then we’d make the move to change our jobs and become dustbin men or work in (British supermarket) Tesco — as long as it makes them the happiest people they can be,” she said.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

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