Hilary Lister, 37, has become the first quadriplegic to sail solo around Britain:The Oxford-educated biochemist, who suffers from a rare, progressive neurological disorder that has left her paralysed from the neck down, completed the final leg of a marathon voyage undertaken in a series of 40 day-long sails.Awesome. Totally awesome.
Using advanced technology allowing her to steer and control the sails by sucking and blowing through plastic straws, she sailed alone with a support team only helping her into and out of her boat, Me Too. After being briefly becalmed in the Channel last night, she finally crossed the finishing line to cheering crowds at 6.45pm.
...Lister, from Canterbury, Kent, suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy and can only move her head, eyes and mouth. ... "I'm so relieved to be home but looking forward to the next challenge," she said before a bottle of celebratory champagne was opened. "One thing I've learnt is that you can't predict the future, we couldn't even predict tomorrow's weather so I'm not ruling anything out or anything in."
I'd like to note that The Guardian identifies Lister as "the first female quadriplegic to sail solo around Britain," but she is, in fact, the first quadriplegic to sail solo around Britain full-stop, female or otherwise.
[H/T to Shaker Essen.]
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