A man who sustained severe spinal injuries following a diving accident and was told he would never walk again now has plans to row across the Atlantic.
Hugo Turner, a resident of Dartmoor in the United Kingdown, crushed his C7 vertebrae and sustained a spinal cord injury at the age of 17, while diving with friends in the town of Rock, Cornwall in 2006.
At the time of the incident, Turner was told that he would never work again, and required multiple surgeries on his neck and spine to deal with the effects of his spinal cord injury.
Now, six years after his accident, Turner has made a remarkable recovery and is planning on rowing across the Atlantic, from the Canary Islands off the coast of the United Kingdom, to Barbados in the Caribbean.
The planned trans-Atlantic journey crosses a distance of 3000 miles, and will be carried out by a small rowing team of four men. The rowers that will be joining Turner in the expedition include his twin brother Ross, and two of his closest friends, Mr. Greg Symondson and Mr. Adam Wolley.
The mission is to be carried out in order to raise funds for the Spinal Research Foundation. Turner hopes to raise at least $200 000 for the organization so that others may be able to experience a miraculous recovery in the same way as he did.
In a recent press statement in which he announced his plans, Turner said that after the accident he was told that he would never walk again, much less participate in any form of sporting activities. He aims to now prove the naysayers wrong by rowing across the Atlantic, while also raising crucial funding for research into a cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury.
Turner emphasizes how close he came to being paralysed for life, and appreciates his good fortune in having the opportunity to realize a lifelong dream. “This will be a very personal challenge for me at every level”, he said in the press release.
The rowing crew will pull at least one million strokes and have to manage exposure to the elements, rough seas, dangerous weather conditions and painful blisters to achieve their goal.
The team is expected to depart in the first week of December 2012. As part of their preparations, the team members will undergo extensive training in sea survival, first aid and navigation. If the mission is successful, Turner’s crew will set a new world record for the youngest four man crew to row across the Atlantic.
