YOU can always tell a Yorkshireman, but you can’t tell him much. One of the many stereotypes thrust upon those from the Broad Acres.

But the saying could have been made for Adam Alderson, a man who does not understand the word ‘no’.

Just two years ago, at the age of 35, he underwent pioneering multiple organ transplant surgery to try and rid him of rare peritoneal cancer, pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP).

He had been told his cancer was incurable, and put onto palliative care, but he refused to accept the prognosis and after researching treatment options, heard about the possibility of transplant surgery.

Adam, from Preston-under-Scar in Wensleydale, is the youngest person in the world to survive the surgery – and doctors credited his stubborn nature for his recovery.

Two months ago he married partner Laura Blanchard, but before that the pair had hatched a plan to take on the Mongol Rally – a madcap 15,000-mile, six-week unsupported drive across Europe and the Middle East to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

As he shook hands, exchanged hugs and thanked well-wishers at a special send-off event in Leyburn, it was clear that his Yorkshire grit will stand him in good stead in the coming days.

He and his Yorkshire Yaks team – wife Laura, Liz Sheldon and Andrew Smithson – have undergone hostile environment training and extra medical instruction in case Adam falls ill.

They have maps for every country they are due to pass through, and the route – emblazoned on the bonnets of the team’s two specially adapted Suzuki Jimnys – has been tweaked to skirt further around some of the Middle Eastern trouble spots.

“We are as in control as we can be,” says Laura. “We’re ready to go and explore – see the world. It’ll be great to be off grid, with no wifi connection or mobile phone, and just experience all the different cultures.”

Adam is itching to get on with the trip. After thanking friends, family, supporters and sponsors, the team set off down to Chichester (following a minor technical hitch when Jimny 2’s aerial got tangled in the celebratory bunting), and will officially start the rally tomorrow.

“I’m looking forward to actually getting some miles under my belt,” says Adam. “It’s been such a big build up and such a lot of hard work over the last 12 months doing little events and constantly begging people to lend a hand.”

The team are raising money for the Steve Prescott Foundation and Macmillan Cancer Support. They have already smashed their £20,000 target, and Adam has now set his sights on £50,000.

As well as raising money, the Yaks want to raise awareness of PMP, Adam’s operation and the importance of organ donation.

“That’s as important to us as raising the funds,” Laura says. “If we can save one person’s life, then that’s what it’s all about.”

Adam, who is taking some Yorkshire greenery with him in the form of astroturf in Jimny 1’s footwell, adds: “If I hadn’t have got a donor, I wouldn’t be here. By doing something like this – going out and seeing the world, and following your dreams – I hope it’s some comfort to that family to know that the organs didn’t go to waste.

“Knowing you are living your life and enjoying it.”