|
Since
reading Sir Francis Chichester’s book "Gypsy Moth 4"
and Robin Lee Grahams’ book "Dove" at the age
of 10, Trevor Jones has dreamt of one day sailing around the
world.
For
most of his early life, Trevor Jones was never far from yachts
or the sea, his summer holidays invariably spent cruising the
Channel Islands in a 39’ yawl, Kiff, with his parents and
three brothers.
Schooling
intervened, but upon leaving Gordonstoun,
he ran a charter boat in the Caribbean before sailing the Atlantic.
A subsequent career as a helicopter pilot in the Royal Navy enabled
him in 1985 to purchase his first yacht Yoldia, a Chance 37,
which doubled as a home whilst based at RNAS Portland in Dorset.
In
1988 Trevor broke his neck in a skiing accident leaving him quadraplegic,
paralysed from the shoulders down. For a while his dreams were
shattered.
But
after a year in hospital, and with the support of family and
friends, he started to build a new life. His subsequent story,
told with honesty and humour in his autobiography Walking
on Air, is inspirational and about making dreams come true.
With
time, he moved to an adapted London flat with a team of personal
assistants, and a purpose-built car and electric wheelchair,
specially imported from Sweden, gave him unprecedented mobility.
In 1992, he became the first quadraplegic ever to be awarded
a pilot’s licence and went on to fly the channel solo in
a specially adapted microlight.
The
following year, he established both a charity to help quads with
similar injuries and a micolight flying school, now respectively
called REGAIN
and APT (Aviation
for Paraplegics and Tetraplegics).
In
1993, following a holiday sailing adapted dinghys at "Shake-a-Leg"
in Miami Florida, Trevor returned to the UK with his childhood
dream rekindled. |
