MS no barrier to sailing Croatia
Ingrid Robertson will not let the need for a walking stick stop her sailing around Croatia this year.
The Christchurch woman has made it her mission not to let multiple sclerosis (MS) get in her way, keeping active by doing things like leaping out of planes and going bungy jumping.
‘‘I like to do exciting things,’’ she said.
Now, Robertson is preparing to join a flotilla of 10 yachts, each manned by six MS sufferers, for a week-long journey around Croatia’s Dalmatian coast in May.
Oceans of Hope, set up by Sailing Sclerosis founder Mikkel Anthonisen, is behind a crew, made up mostly of people living with MS, to sail around the world from 2015. Crews then tackled Turkey in 2016.
‘‘In October I got an email saying they’ve got one coming up . . . they said, pretty much, that I’ve got to go because they’ve already accepted two Australians and I had to prove a point,’’ Robertson said.
‘‘There’s people in wheelchairs and everything. There’s not a limit put on it at all.’’
She said ‘‘stuff all’’ sailing experience would not get in her way.
‘‘The last time I went sailing I went with some friends, but I don’t go sailing. You don’t have to have all those abilities – they show you, so it’ll be interesting [to see] if I actually make it back.
‘‘I mean, my dad had a Sunburst [sailing dinghy] when we were young but that was about it.’’
Diagnosed in 1999, Robertson said there had been times where it was ‘‘like I was just existing’’, but keeping active and getting involved with things like Oceans of Hope helped.
‘‘Now I rely on the stick more and I can’t do as much, so it’s more just to prove a point to myself that I can, actually. This came up and it’s really given me a purpose.’’
Support groups and being on the board of the Multiple Sclerosis & Parkinson’s Society of Canterbury also made living with MS easier to bear.
The opportunity for the Croatia trip had come from being involved in such groups, and Robertson said she would be able to pay forward the lessons learned from her experiences when she returned.
‘‘Sailing with that many people, I just think everybody will share their experiences and we will all learn a lot.
‘‘If I can bring back any knowledge or contacts or anything that can help us here, and pass that on, I just think as much as it’ll be super for me, I think it’ll be super for other people as well.’’
She said that was one of her key goals – to show others ‘‘they can get out there and do things’’.
More information about Robertson’s journey, or to support her trip, can be found at givealittle.co.nz/cause/ ingridoceansofhope
"Now I rely on the stick more and I can't do as much, so it's more just to prove a point to myself that I can [do it]." Ingrid Robertson