Sip and Puff Sailor Hilary Lister Takes on New Challenge

Hilary Lister is a one-of-a-kind woman when it comes to determination. She has been using a wheelchair since she was 15 years old due to an illness called reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a degenerative neurological disorder, but she didn’t let her disease get in the way of reinventing her dreams.

First disabled woman to sail solo around Britain

Hillary gradually became a quadriplegic paralyzed from the neck down and is only able to move her head, eyes and mouth and needs to rely on other people for pretty much everything she needs. She also has a hard time breathing and just doing an interview might exhaust her. Despite of these setbacks she became the first woman with a disability to sail solo around Britain, which is approximately a 1600 mile journey, in 2009 at the age of 36. But the way she accomplished her triumph really pushed the boundaries of what is achievable in her condition without the use of arms and legs.

The sip and puff sailboat system

She was all alone in her sailboat strapped into a chair braving the rough open seas for many days. During the entire journey she basically relied on three straws to operate her sailboat. Being a quadriplegic myself, I can only imagine the “what if” thoughts of some potential disaster going around in your head when you’re all by yourself roughing the high waves with limited mobility. But at the same time, I can also relate to a statement she made during an interview with CNN: “When you leave the quayside, you leave behind the stresses of everyday life. Any sailor will tell you that. If you multiply that sense of freedom a thousand times, that’s how I feel. I leave behind my wheelchair, a team of caretakers and suddenly it’s just me.”

A Canadian engineer invented the sip and puff system that allows Hilary to control the sailboat through a series of commands she can give by either blowing or sucking through the straws, which are hooked up by pressure sensors to electric servo motors. For example, a puff in one of the straws works the tiller to go to port and a sip makes it go to starboard.

Sailing around Bahrain as next challenge

Hillary aims to assist other disabled or disadvantaged people accomplish their sailing dreams and therefore she has set up her own charity, Hilary’s Dream Trust. On April 13 she will be ready to take on her next challenge by sailing 100 miles around the Kingdom of Bahrain to raise funds for Bahrain Mobility International, which provides services to disabled people throughout the country.

Personally, I love Hillary’s motto: “Just go for it – live your dreams! We all have that same choice don’t we? You can live your dreams, or you can put up with the cards you’ve been dealt – I know which I choose every time.”

If you would like to read more about this remarkable woman, Hilary Lister, feel free to check out her website.