29 January 2019, Tim Burton
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Two years ago, four middle aged men from Cornwall set themselves an extraordinary goal: to row 3,000 miles unaided from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean. It’s a feat that fewer people have attempted than climbing Mount Everest. They named themselves the Atlantic Seamen and they set about achieving their goal.
Despite the immense difficulties of just getting themselves to the start line, the Atlantic Seamen set off on 12 December 2018. After fighting off sleep deprivation, salt sores, enormous waves, and brutal conditions, they arrived in Antigua 43 days, 4 hours and 8 minutes later on Thursday 24 January.
The Atlantic Seamen took on this epic challenge to raise awareness of urology disease and to raise money for The Urology Foundation so that we can work to end the suffering that these diseases cause for patients across the country.
As part of their work to raise awareness, they have been sharing their story on Instagram and Facebook and by having weekly phone interviews with Radio Cornwall from the middle of the Atlantic. You can also see footage of them reaching shore on the 43rd day right here.
As for raising money, their Just Giving page has raised a massive £84,000 at the time of writing! That’s enough money to fund a research scholar for a year of research as well as three small research projects that will work to find new treatments and cures for urology diseases and cancers. If you would like to support the Atlantic Seamen as they fundraise for research like this, you can chip in a few quid right here.
Our CEO, Louise, said,
What the Atlantic Seamen have achieved is huge. It’s required immense commitment from them and what was probably the toughest 43 days, 4 hours and 8 minutes they’ll ever experience. Everyone at The Urology Foundation is so grateful for them and their support; urology patients across the UK and Ireland will benefit from what they achieved on that ocean.
