Adventure: Quadraplegic Sailor

So how would you react if I told you about a quadriplegic woman who embarked yesterday on an attempt to sail solo around England? What if I told you she makes adjustments to her rig by blowing into and sucking on straws connected to an electronic board which trims sails and tends the tiller? And that she is accompanied by support boats for her entire journey?

Would you scoff? Would you say that's not exactly sailing solo? Would you say that blowing into a couple of straws is hardly the same as doing all the work of cranking on windlasses, going forward to raise and lower sails, and so on?

There's a part of me that felt that way when I first read about her. But then I gave it a little more thought, read her web site, and reconsidered. As she lost more and more physical ability due to a degenerative disease, Hilary Lister fell in love with sailing. It got her outside in the sunshine and open air, in the spell of the eternal ocean. She began doing longer and longer jaunts. She decided to set goals for herself. One goal is this voyage around England.

No one came knocking on her door and said, "I've got a way to make you one of those famous handicapped people who sets some kind of crazy record. It'll be easy, really. We'll just prop you up and all you'll have to do is blow into these straws."

If the lady wants to sail around England, and this is the way it's to be done, then more power to her. If the world wants to cheer, so be it. If some of us can't help setting standards for her based on how life is for people with four working limbs instead of zero, that's our shortcoming, not hers.