The Australian coastguard in Jarvis Bay contacted the IVS Kanda on Saturday 22 April requesting assistance to rescue a kayaker in distress.
Malcolm Skelton was attempting to row from Coffs Harbour in Australia to New Zealand, a 50-day journey over a distance of 2000km, to raise awareness of a rare disease, Friedreich’s Ataxia, and raise funds for further research. Malcolm’s wife suffers from this disease which is an autosomal recessive inherited disease that causes progressive damage to the nervous system. There is no treatment or cure for it at present.
Unfortunately, he was driven off course by the weather and had been drifting for three days before being rescued by the IVS Kanda.
We wish Malcolm and his family all the best in their awareness campaign and fund-raising endeavours.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/row4fara/ for more details and information on how to donate.
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