Kelda's newyear – in the middle of the ocean

Today marks the 21st day of Kelda's journey from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to the Caribbean Island of Antigua. If successful, Kelda – who was left with severely restricted movement in her left leg following an accident on a farm – will become the first adaptive rower in the world to complete the feat.

Kelda, who is trying to raise £50,000 for a charity she founded, says she has been spending her time listening to educational broadcasts over the internet.

But she said yesterday that her progress was being hampered by the calm waters.

School

Kelda said: "I've wanted to put the endless hours on the oars to good use, so every morning between 9am and 1pm I've sent myself to school for a bit of personal development. This involves listening to podcasts or audio books about the world wars, mind management, and sporting events.

"I'm gonna leave this ocean the most educated I've ever been in my life."

But she said her hopes of completing 50 miles in one day looked unlikely unless there was a change in weather conditions.

"Calm seas today has made it hard work and not got many miles on the clock," she said.

"Looks like I'll have to wait a little longer to get that 50-miler!"

Inspirational

Kelda, who founded the Climbing Out charity for young people recovering from life-changing injuries, dedicates each day of her expedition to a young person with an inspirational story.

She dedicated yesterday's rowing to Victoria, a 21-year-old whose life was changed by an operation to remove a tumour on the shoulder. The surgery involved removing her trapezius muscle, a large muscle which controls the back, and which has left her with a disability.

Before her accident in 2002, Kelda had enjoyed a career as a successful horse rider with ambitions to represent her country in the Olympics, and had also played netball at a national level.

But her life was changed when she was crushed beneath a one-ton bale of hay which fell from the top of a stack, leaving her with a severe leg injury.

It looked for a while as if her leg would have to be amputated, and she says in some respects it would have been easier if that were the case.

“The leg injury changed everything, it left me unable to run,” she says.

“I knew nothing about adaptive sports so I thought that was it for me, at the age of 29, and I lost a lot of confidence.

“I very nearly lost my leg and for a long time I wished I had because people couldn’t see my injury so, when I didn’t take part, I thought people assumed I was lazy."

But after climbing Kilimanjaro, she realised that her injury would be no barrier to leading an active lifestyle, and took up the sport of adaptive rowing.

She narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2016 Paralympic Games, and in January 2017 became the first female para-athlete to reach the summit of Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America. She said it was this experience which prompted her to sign up for the Atlantic challenge.