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Nautical Nurses
18 October 2007
Atlantic rowing nurses’ boat comes in
Great Ormond Street Hospital pushed the boat out on Thursday 18th October to celebrate it’s two tenacious Nautical Nurses. Read more...
8 May 2007
Racing abandoned as Dream Maker is launched in high winds
Despite appalling weather conditions, the nautical nurses launched their boat 'Dream Maker' at Hayling Island Sailing Club on Bank Holiday Monday (7 May 2007). Read more...
May 2007
Nautical nurses official launch at Hayling Island
Herdip and Elin are launching their amibitious challenge on Bank Holiday Monday (7 May) at Hayling Island Sailing Club. Read more...
24 April 2007
Nautical Nurses complete London Marathon
Herdip pipped Elin to the post at the London Marathon last Sunday, putting in a stunning time of four hours 20 minutes. Elin followed 53 minutes later.
Congratulations to both nurses for their tireless efforts to raise funds and get fit for the challenge ahead.
March 2007
Nautical nurses take to the streets
Elin Haf Davies and Herdip Sidhu are taking their training to the mean streets of London, where they are preparing the run the London Marathon on 22 April 2007.
The rowing duo are raising funds for both GOSHCC and the Gaucher Disease Society. To support them, visit their Justgiving page here.
February 2007
Their boat comes in!
The boat which will carry nautical nurses Elin Haf Davies and Herdip Sidhu 2,500 nautical miles across the pond has landed.
Built by Woodvale, the 7m x 2m plywood vessel is yet to be sanded, named or painted, but Elin and Herdip are absolutely thrilled with it.
"It’s brilliant to finally get on board," said Elin. "There’s still so much work to be done, but we can’t wait to get out onto the water."
Once all the fittings and furnishings have been completed and the winter weather passes, the nautical nurses will start sleeping on the boat at weekends to prepare for their long journey ahead.
January 2007
Nautical but nice
Two metabolic nurses are preparing to test their own metabolisms to the limit when they cross the Atlantic in a rowing boat this December.
Kingfisher Ward sister Herdip Sidhu from Birmingham and research nurse Elin Davies from Bala in North Wales met at Great Ormond Street Hospital’s metabolic medicine department five years ago. They became firm friends and this sparked off the idea to compete in an extreme sporting challenge to raise funds for their department. Inspired by the achievements of James Cracknell and Ben Fogle, they hit upon rowing across the Atlantic and getting in the record books, because no nurses nor any Welsh or Asian women have ever done it before.
Although the pair have already run marathons, cycled from Paris to London
and combined both sports in the London duathlon, they have never rowed
before. They will face huge highs and lows as they move from the wards
to the waves. So are they foolhardy or fully-hardened to the trials that
lie ahead?
"The physical side doesn’t worry us," said Elin. "Rowing is about 10 per cent of the challenge; the rest is coping with sea sickness, home sickness, sleep deprivation, hunger and always being wet and salty."
Their boat is due to be delivered in January, when training begins in earnest. They will row four times a week in the gym and spend their weekends on the open sea at Hayling Island Sailing Club in Hampshire. The Royal Marines are also being involved to help the girls prepare mentally. By May, they plan to start sleeping in the boat to acclimatise to the long journey ahead.
They also have to pass exams to take part in the Atlantic Rowing Race 2007. Over nine days in April, they will study sea survival, ocean yacht mastery, short range radio licences and of course first aid at sea!
But becoming competent seafarers and reaching their physical peak runs alongside hitting their ambitious fundraising target of £250,000 for metabolic research at GOSH. Until now, their department has been something of a Cinderella unit, not attracting the type of funding that other more high-profile conditions enjoy. Herdip and Elin hope to whip up a storm of publicity for their rowing challenge, which would increase awareness of metabolic diseases among the general public and fund vital research into the causes and effects of these conditions.
Professor Peter Clayton, consultant in metabolic medicine at GOSH, is full of admiration for the determined duo.
“Improved resources for our metabolic patients would lead to an improvement in their quality of life,” Prof Clayton said. “Many of us just moan about not having the resources we would like; Herdip and Elin are doing something about it.”
And they have many other supporters, including Lucy, mother of four-year-old
patient Henry Jameson. Henry was diagnosed with Gaucher disease in September
2005, and needed to visit GOSH regularly for appointments and procedures,
including infusions of enzyme replacement therapy or ‘Batman juice’ as
Lucy and Henry called it.
“Although this was a daunting few months, Herdip and the team worked extremely hard to ensure that Henry was confident and happy, making the whole procedure and time spent on Dickens Ward very positive, rather than the scary experience so regularly associated with hospitals. And the continuity of care has been fantastic.”
Lucy is a member of Hayling Island Sailing Club, and thanks to her intervention, the club has offered Elin and Herdip free use of the facilities. Not only that, the club will also give them a bed for the night when they need it.
The nurses set off for La Gomera on 22 November, from where the race starts on 2 December. They hope to reach Antigua in the East Caribbean in 55 days to get into the Guinness Book of Records.
"We're both very determined, rather stubborn individuals," Herdip insists. "So we have every confidence that we will rise to this challenge, like all others, and complete it!"
If you’d like to help them achieve their goal, they are looking for sponsorship on all levels, from £63,000 to be title sponsor with all the associated benefits, down to simple cash pledges on their justgiving website. To lend your support, visit www.gosh.org/nauticalnurses, make a donation at www.justgiving.com/nauticalnurses or call Elin on 07884 495357 or Herdip on 07811 705439.
For more information please contact:
Email: publicity@gosh.org
Katy McMullen, GOSH publicity team, 020 7239 3044
Elin Haf Davies on 07884 495357
Herdip Sidhu on 07811 705439