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25 Jan 16
14:15
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30 Mar 05
Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Edward Henry Worsley MBE (October 1960 – 24 January 2016) was a former British Army officer, and an explorer, who died while attempting to be the first person to cross the Antarctic unaided.
He was a descendant of Frank Worsley, the captain of explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship, the Endurance. Henry Worsley's intention was to follow in the spirit of his hero, Shackleton, and before starting the trip raised over £100,000 for the Endeavour Fund, set up to assist injured servicemen and women. The patron of the expedition was Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.
He had covered 913 miles and only had 30 miles to go. He had spent 71 days travelling, but the last two days in his tent with exhaustion and severe dehydration. Worsley radioed for help and was airlifted to Punta Arenas, Chile, where he was diagnosed with bacterial peritonitis, and died of "complete organ failure", at the Clinica Magallanes in Punta Arenas, Chile. He was 55.
He was a descendant of Frank Worsley, the captain of explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship, the Endurance. Henry Worsley's intention was to follow in the spirit of his hero, Shackleton, and before starting the trip raised over £100,000 for the Endeavour Fund, set up to assist injured servicemen and women. The patron of the expedition was Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.
He had covered 913 miles and only had 30 miles to go. He had spent 71 days travelling, but the last two days in his tent with exhaustion and severe dehydration. Worsley radioed for help and was airlifted to Punta Arenas, Chile, where he was diagnosed with bacterial peritonitis, and died of "complete organ failure", at the Clinica Magallanes in Punta Arenas, Chile. He was 55.
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Brave, brave man. RIP.
Here he is discussing the task ahead with John Humphreys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk4oUaIx_1A |
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only 30 miles to go
 he radioded for help but did he leave it too late - did they have a job locating him ? poor fella |
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It was just on the news, sad story but a great man.
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1 last poignant message on his audio diary.
My journey is at an end. I've run out of time, physical endurance and the simple sheer ability to slide one ski in front of the other. |
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Yes Kenny, his hero was Sir Earnest Shackleton who went to Dulwich College. A brave man.
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Indeed, slippy. He seemed a very decent man too from the interview in the link further up.
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what a tragedy. a true descendant of frank worsley. and he was right to revere shackleton. when the holy grail of polar exploration was near-at-hand shackleton turned back 30 miles from the pole because he could not be certain of getting back, despite the tantalising temptation. and his epic survival against mind-boggling odds after his ship was crushed by the ice is worthy of a blockbuster hollywood movie. maybe an iron-man like decaprio, clooney, or some other limp-wristed **** could play the great man. i hope not. they are so not worthy. poofter actors playing genuine geezers give me the right pip.
there are a few books on this subject. one i recommend is by michael smith, 'an unknown hero' about tom crean, a kerryman who somehow found himself at the bottom of the world with scott and shackleton. a truly amazing tale. he was distraught when scott left him out of the final party to attempt to reach the pole. he was unbelievably tough and saved men that were not as hard as him. he ended up running a boozer in annascaul. ive been to pay homage. |
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I read Shackleton's book 'South' in the last couple of months (was free on Kindle) and it is probably one of the best books I've ever read. If somebody wrote it as a fiction novel I would have put it down a quarter of the way through due to it being too far fetched. Simply mind boggling feat of human endurance.
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