AN ADVENTURER who had open heart surgery just months before a gruelling challenge has taken on frostbite, hypothermia and waves the size of buildings to become a record-breaker again.
Jamie Douglas-Hamilton has returned home after a tiring 400-mile-plus row across the world’s roughest seas, from Antarctica’s King George Island to the South Orkney Islands.
The team had originally planned to row another 500 miles, to South Georgia, but saw their adventure cut short.
The six-strong crew’s journey was in honour of Harry McNish, the Scottish carpenter of Shackleton’s ill-fated Endurance voyage.
Jamie, 41, who grew up near North Berwick, is now a 15-time Guinness World Record holder and said: “We rowed in 90-minute shifts eight times per day in huge seas, burning over 10,000 calories per day.
“The waves were enormous and it was like looking up at fast-moving walls of water the size of warehouses.
“We came so close to fully capsizing many times in the freezing water.
“We all suffered from sea sickness to some degree and one member had chronic sea sickness to the point he couldn’t hold any food or liquid down and was evacuated to the supervising vessel following us before getting hypothermia.
“The strong westerly and north-westerly winds made getting far enough north to reach South Georgia less and less likely and, if we had continued, we would have had less than 50 per cent chance of getting there.
“This became all the more clear with one rower down and several others developing frostbite.
“The temperature was averaging one degree but, with the wind chill and 100 per cent humidity, we were borderline hypothermic.”
Unassisted and without wind power, the crew planned to row to South Georgia, inspired by Shackleton’s rescue mission on the ‘James Caird’, which was built by Harry McNish and which saved Shackleton’s men.
From the start, conditions were horrendous and the crew narrowly escaped a fast-moving ice flow when leaving King George Island.
Jamie, who attended Belhaven Hill School, explained how the challenging conditions impacted upon their health while also giving them moments they would never forget.
He said: “These rowing boats are designed for the warm weather of mid-Atlantic crossings and the cabins were like cold, humid fridges with everything being soaking wet.
“Our legs would sometimes shake uncontrollably and then this moved to our torso and came close to hypothermia.”
A documentary of the expedition is now being produced.
Jamie added: “Despite only lasting six days, this row was tough – tougher than previous rows across the Drake Passage and Indian Ocean – and I returned home with frostnip in my fingers and feet (stage before frostbite), which is a very painful condition that takes months to fully recover from.
“Despite all the suffering, there were beautiful moments being followed by penguins, whales, orcas and seeing enormous icebergs the size of towns, and rowing past islands that look like the top of Himalayan peaks and the beautiful colours of the ice land – these are memories I will treasure forever.”
What might seem like an impossible feat for most was even more challenging for Jamie, who underwent open heart surgery in August last year.
Feeling unwell during early 2022, Jamie was shocked to discover that he had a leaking aortic valve, a hereditary condition requiring immediate open-heart surgery to replace the aortic valve in his heart.
Jamie is raising funds for the British Heart Foundation in honour of his experience and the care and support he received.
He said: “Five months ago, I was lying in a hospital bed having just undergone open heart surgery.
“The operation made me feel like I had been hit by a bus, but I was determined to take on the challenge and used this as a focus during recovery and training, and was so pleased to be able to take part and complete this expedition.
“As tough and gruelling as the row was, I never missed a shift or was worried about my heart.
“I hope this inspires others and gives hope to those who have a similar diagnosis that you can recover and have a more active life than before.”
The row broke eight world records, of which three – first row from Antarctica, first row on the Scotia Sea and first to row the Southern Ocean from south to north – will stay in the record books forever. It was also the longest and fastest row on the Southern Ocean, and the fastest polar row in history.
To donate to Jamie’s British Heart Foundation cause, visit justgiving.com/page/jamie-row-challenge
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