Jamie’s all heart
Record breaking adventurer Jamie Douglas-Hamilton all set for Antarctic row
AN ADVENTURER who had open heart surgery just last August is preparing to row one of the world’s most dangerous crossings in Antarctica this month from Drake Passage to South Georgia.
Jamie Douglas Hamilton has few records left to break, as he already holds seven Guinness World records. In July of this year after feeling unwell Jamie had to have immediate open heart surgery when a leaking aortic valve was discovered. The result of a hereditary condition the news shocked Jamie who was treated at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He now hopes to raise more than £100,000 for the
British Heart Foundation.
The Scot will undertake the journey in honour of Harry “Chippy” McNish the Glaswegian carpenter on Shackleton’s ill-fated Endurance voyage, hoping to bring attention to the Scot who was denied a Polar medal.
Jamie said: “When I was a boy I read Endurance about Shackleton’s rescue voyage when they sailed from Elephant Island to South Georgia in a small lifeboat and I couldn’t believe the hardship they went through. I’m excited to be going on this adventure in memory of Harry McNish. We have named our expedition boat ‘Mrs Chippy’.
“It was a shock to me when I discovered the issue with my heart and that I needed immediate open heart surgery. I felt as if my life had been turned upside down, however, it turned out to be the biggest blessing of my life. The operation makes you feel like you have been hit by a bus and the recovery takes a long time but I feel so much better now and my fitness levels are increasing. I’m ready to take on the challenge and am incredibly honoured to be rowing on behalf of Harry McNish, who I believe ultimately saved Shackleton’s crew from disaster.”
Jamie’s surgeon, Consultant Cardiothoracic
Surgeon at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Vincenzo Giordano said: “Jamie is one of the youngest and fittest patients I’ve operated on. Extremely ambitious and determined, he has been through an exceedingly challenging clinical journey.
“Just last May it was discovered he had a congenitally abnormal aortic valve with 2 leaflets instead of three (a condition that affects 1 in a hundred people). Because of this congenital malformation the valve has been malfunctioning with a progressive and substantial degeneration over the last year. This resulted in a severe valve leakage, followed by an enlargement of Jamie’s heart and onset of first signs and symptoms of cardiac failure.
“As expected, his post operative recovery from this major surgery has been outstanding, partly due to his level of fitness prior to surgery and his determination with the end goal of participating in the expedition. After reviewing him three months down the line, I’m pleasantly confident based on his clinical progress he will succeed.
“I wish Jamie all the best not only in his pending expedition but in all future endeavours.”
John McNish, Harry McNish’s great nephew said, “Our family are incredibly touched that Jamie is rowing the treacherous seas of the Antarctic which my great uncle sailed in the early 1900s and that the journey will be made in honour of him. Our family is incredibly proud of my great uncle, and we have always believed it to be very unjust that Chippy wasn’t given the Polar Medal. It is very exciting that this expedition, The Harry McNish Row, will highlight just how brave and courageous my great uncle was.”
On 10 January the crew will set off on a 950-mile journey without wind power following the same route the James Caird boat took from Elephant Island to South Georgia. No-one has rowed the waters between Antarctica and South Georgia before. The brave crew ultimately saved Shackleton and the men on the Endurance which had been sunk by pack ice in October 1915.
The relationship between Shackleton and the outspoken McNish was difficult and Shackleton awarded almost all of the team the Polar Medal but excluded McNish.
Jamie said: “None of the crew would have made it back if it was not for Harry McNish.
“Not only did he build the boat that saved the whole crew with the most limited of tools, but he created the crampons for Shackleton, Crean and Worsley to cross the mountains of South Georgia to the whaling station on the other side.
“Without McNish speaking up to Shackleton on the pack ice the lifeboat hulls would have been irreparably damaged.
“He was portrayed as a mutineer but was the real hero.”