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Mo O'Brien: 60-year-old deaf woman sets record, becomes 1st person to row the Atlantic

Friday, January 31, 2020 at 10:32 AM by Joseph Omotayo

- Mo O'Brien, a 60-year-old phar*macy worker, has become the first deaf person to row 3000 miles across the Atlantic

- With her daughter, Bird Watt, among the three-member crew, O'Brien's disability was well managed at sea

- The record-breaker said that she hopes to roll the Pacific as her next challenge as she professed her love for the sea

A 60-year-old phar*macy worker, Mo O’Brien, has set a record as the first deaf person to row the ocean in a 3,000-mile journey across the Atlantic.

BBC reports that the woman got to the Carribean island of Antigua with her team members 49 days after she left the Canary Island of La Gomera in December 2019.

Their arrival on Thursday, January 30, will make them the fastest team of three females to ever complete the task.

In commenting on the completion of the task, the woman said she feels relieved as the Ocean Rowling Society gave the confirmation that she is really the world’s first on such a challenge.

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The team is made up of Ms O’Brien, her daughter, Bird Watt and their friend, Claire Allinson. On the voyage, the trio each takes a four-hour shift with a two-hour rest.

Mo O'Brien said she really loves being at sea and would row the Pacific next. Photo source: BBC
Source: UGC

O’Brien speaks about her love for the sea, saying that despite the fact that she really loves to be at the finish line, she very much wishes she was still at sea.

On her next challenge, the phar*macy worker said that she hopes to row the Pacific someday, jokingly saying all she needs as preparation time are a week, some rest and clean clothes.

She also spoke about how her inability to hear was a challenge during the voyage, saying getting instructions was a hard one with deafness, adding it was a frightening experience.

Her daughter spoke about the challenge, saying to be able to handle a crisis, they make sure her mum does not come out of the cabin whenever there is a storm.

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"If we're going over in a storm and our boat is going to capsize, you would [usually] shout through to people in the air-tight cabin to stay inside. But you can't communicate anything like that with mum.

"We just do our best. We have certain hand signals that mean certain things. And for example, if she's in the cabin in stormy weather, she doesn't come out unless we tell her,” she said.

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It should, however, be noted that the Guinness World Records does not give awards based on disabilities, but its records on rowing are verified by the rowing society.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Arya Permana, 13-year-old former world’s fattest boy, has shared an amazing transformation picture of his successful weight loss journey.

The teenager who made news in 2016 when he weighed a whopping 30 stone has now shed 17 out of it.