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Rowing to Support BLESMA & Help for Heroes
On the 3rd April 2011 Rob Eustace will cross the start line in Western Australia and will row solo, unassisted and unsupported to Mauritius crossing 3,700 miles of the Indian Ocean.
After Rob’s rowing epic Lee McNamara will then cross the start line in the Canary Islands and will row solo, unassisted and unsupported to Antigua. Departing in January 2012 aiming to make the crossing in a superhuman time.
2 solo rows – 2 oceans – 1 boat – 2hopes
Why are we doing this?
To raise money so wounded servicemen and women can get the help that they deserve. Lee and Rob have had both personal and family involvement in the armed forces and both BLESMA and Help for Heroes are charities close to their hearts. Over the last few years the UK armed forces have been involved in some of the heaviest fighting they have experienced since the Second World War and servicemen are now almost routinely wounded on the battlefield. Once home a lot of these servicemen with their families need help in rehabilitation and recovery in order to get them back on their feet which is where BLESMA and help for Heroes comes in.
What is Help for Heroes all about?
“It’s about the blokes, our men and women. It’s about Derri, a rugby player who has lost both his legs, it’s about Carl whose jaw is wired up so he’s been drinking through a straw. It’s about Richard who was handed a mobile phone as he lay on the stretcher so he could say goodbye to his wife. It’s about Ben, it’s about Steven and Andy and Mark, and it’s about them all. They are just blokes but they are our blokes; they are our heroes. We want to help our heroes.”
What is BLESMA all about?
“BLESMA (British Limbless Ex Service Men’s Association) is the national charity for limbless serving and ex service men and women and their dependants and widows. It is the charity that directly supports all our service men and women who lose limbs, the use of limbs or eyes or the sight of an eye in the service of our country and we are with them all whenever we are needed for the rest of their lives. Our work starts with rehabilitation – proving that there is life after amputation. Our youngest Member is 19 and our oldest is 99 – Truly we are BLESMA for Life.”…read more here…