I can't feel fingertips after rowing in Antarctic seas

Adventurer Jamie Douglas-Hamilton says his latest rowing situation successful the world's astir treacherous waters has near him successful the worst symptom helium has ever felt.

"I inactive can't consciousness my fingertips and can't wiggle my toes," helium says.

"I couldn't adjacent locomotion to the bath from my furniture without hanging connected to things on the way."

Jamie was portion of a unit of six who battled 30ft (10m) waves, crippling seasickness, icy acold winds and changeless panic successful Antarctica's Southern Ocean and Scotia Sea.

They managed 407 miles successful six days earlier the beardown winds and the hazard of frostbite led them to extremity the situation early.

Jamie said the conditions from the commencement were "horrendous" and the unit narrowly escaped a fast-moving crystal travel erstwhile leaving King George Island.

The 41-year-old Edinburgh adventurer suffered frost nip successful his hands and feet during the icy row, which became excruciating connected arriving home.

The travel was primitively planned for December 2021 but had to beryllium postponed arsenic Jamie discovered helium had a bosom information that helium believes would person killed him connected the journey.

He took connected the situation conscionable 5 months aft helium had open-heart country successful August 2022, which made him consciousness similar helium had been deed by a bus.

The planetary unit acceptable disconnected connected 11 January from King George Island, 120km (75 miles) disconnected the seashore of Antarctica successful the Southern Ocean.

They rowed successful 90-minute shifts for six days.

The situation took them via Elephant Island to Laurie Island, the 2nd largest of the South Orkney Islands - astir 604km (375 miles) north-east of the extremity of the Antarctic Peninsula.

They had primitively planned to transportation connected different 500 miles to South Georgia Island but the conditions were excessively tough.

"We each suffered from oversea sickness to immoderate grade and 1 subordinate had chronic oversea sickness to the constituent helium couldn't clasp immoderate nutrient oregon liquid down and was evacuated to the supervising vas pursuing america earlier getting hypothermia," Jamie said.

"The beardown westerly and north-westerly winds made getting acold capable northbound to scope South Georgia little and little likely, and if we had continued we would person had little than 50% accidental of getting there.

"This became each the much wide with 1 rower down and respective others processing frost bite."

Jamie added: "The waves were tremendous and it was similar looking up astatine accelerated moving walls of h2o the size of warehouses.

"We came truthful adjacent to afloat capsizing galore times successful the freezing water. It was precise worrying.

"These rowing boats are designed for the lukewarm upwind of mid-Atlantic crossings and the cabins were similar cold, humid fridges with everything being soaking bedewed including our sleeping bags.

"Our legs would sometimes shingle uncontrollably and past this moved to our torso and came adjacent to hypothermia."

Despite ending the situation aboriginal the unit did execute 8 satellite records including the longest region rowed connected the Southern Ocean.

Jamie said helium had taken connected the expedition successful honour of Harry McNish - the "forgotten hero" of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance voyage, which attempted to beryllium the archetypal to transverse the Antarctic continent.

McNish was connected Shackleton's ill-fated voyage, which ended with the expedition vas being sunk by battalion crystal successful October 1915.

Despite McNish gathering a caller vessel connected the battalion crystal with frostbitten hands, helium was denied the Polar Medal due to the fact that helium had fallen retired with Shackleton.

He utilized flour and seal humor to seal the hull and without him they would person each perished.

Jamie is calling for the Polar Medal to beryllium awarded posthumously to McNish, who died destitute successful New Zealand, incapable to usage his hands owed to frostbite from the trip.

Jamie has antecedently completed 3 different unsafe rowing challenges.

He was portion of a squad which rowed from Chile to Antarctica successful 2019 and has rowed Drakes Passage.

He said contempt lone lasting six days, this latest enactment was tougher than his erstwhile ones and the frost nip successful his fingers and feet could instrumentality months to afloat retrieve from.

Jamie said: "Despite each the suffering determination were beauteous moments - being followed by penguins, whales, orcas and seeing tremendous icebergs the size of towns."

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who is acclaimed by the Guinness Book of World Records arsenic "the world's top surviving explorer", said: "I did erstwhile enactment each the mode up the Thames from Windsor to Henley but to enactment successful 90-minute shifts, 8 times per time successful the world's coldest and roughest seas successful little than 5 months aft unfastened bosom country is inspirational."