Deaf man wins share of £100,000 after beating surveillance experts on ‘Hunted’

A Deaf man from Castleford has won a share of £100,000 after he successfully evaded capture from a team of surveillance experts for 23 days.

Nathan Falcon, a 28-year-old graphic designer, made it to the helicopter on Inchmurrin Island near Balloch with fellow contestant Sarah Kibble, with whom he’ll share the prize money.

Nathan had travelled with 32-year-old housemate and postman James Sorohan – who is also profoundly deaf – but he was caught by the hunters when the pair opted to go a football match.

Nathan, however, was able to get away on foot.

Speaking about their reasons for taking part in the show, Nathan said: “There are loads of barriers for deaf people, and I want to prove that you can break down the barriers and overcome the challenges. I want to let hearing people who watch on national TV see how hard it is for deaf people living through daily life.”

James added: “I’d like people within the deaf community to see me doing this on TV and feel confident enough to do what I’m doing. When they see me I hope that it will motivate them to think, ‘well, I can do that. He can’t talk. He’s profoundly deaf. I could do that.’”

At the end of the final episode, which aired on Channel 4 on Monday, Nathan said he wished his teammate “was with me on the helicopter” as he was “gutted we didn’t finish together”.

“I’m still splitting the money with [James]. I’m glad I didn’t let him down,” he said.

Nathan previously said he would spend his share of the cash on a deposit for a house, while James revealed he would use some of the money to pay off his mortgage and another sum on decorating around the house.

Photo: Channel 4.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.