Kayakers Struggle with Illness
With just 10 days to go and paddling for up to 12 hours a day for the last 56 days, James Castrission and Justin Jones are now really doing it tough. Both young adventurers are really feeling the effects of fatigue and illness as they kayak from Australia to New Zealand.
This endurance challenge, which they began on November 13, is now causing the pair a great deal of discomfort with continuing skin infections and deterioration in the legs. While the men have exercises that they are meant to do regularly for their legs, they are often too exhausted to do them properly.
They have a lack of muscle co-ordination from not standing up for a long time and it’s definitely an issue that will become apparent once the boys attempt to walk on ground again.
Kayak expedition spokesman Tom Mitchell said “Any little nicks and cuts that occur during the day, you’d normally let the whole body dry and the skin repair. But when the body is worked all day and is being worked as hard as it is, it doesn’t get a chance to repair.”
Mr Mitchell said the men were scheduled for a major medical check-up once they arrived in New Zealand.
“Once they get back on land they’ll be a whole course of things they do to flush their bodies out,” he said.
“Relative to what they’ve done, they’re doing very well.”
The men were now focused on the final days of their adventure and were anxious to finish, he said.
“They just want to get there,” Mr Mitchell said. “It’s been long enough. Enough challenges, enough hard stuff. They are: ‘Let’s just get there and relax.’
“With 300 kilometres to go, it’s just come on boys, hurry up.”
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