Hilary Lister, as the sun set, she sailed into the harbor to be greeted by cheering supporters. With she’s quadriplegic, her specially adapted vessel is designed to be operated through three straws, which allow her to control the boat using a “sip-and-puff” system. She suffers from the progressive condition reflex sympathetic dystrophy and controls her ship by sucking and blowing tubes for steering and sails. Hilary Lister, who is disabled from the neck down, will set sail on April 13th. The Oxford University graduate has used a wheelchair since she was 15 because of a progressive neurological disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

She became the first quadriplegic sailor to sail solo across the English Channel in 2005 and two years later was the first quadriplegic woman to sail around the Isle of Wight. Hilary Lister is first outing in a boat was in September 2003, at Westbere Sailing Opportunities, near Canterbury, Kent, England. The WSO is a remarkable group of people who immediately see through the gadgets and disability and find the real person. From her first moment in the Wayfarer boat, Hilary fell in love.

Secured on a garden chair with a board down her back and another one under her legs, she was sailing. She was hooked and knew immediately that sailing was now going to become a large part of her life. Five years ago, A quadriplegic, she spent her days stuck on the sofa with no one to see and nothing to do. She was depressed, withdrawn and crazy with loss.

The lively person she had been before she became ill was obliterated. She has reflex sympathetic dystrophy, an agonizing muscle-wasting condition. She had had enough. “I weighed up the quality of my life and wondered if it was worth continuing,” she explains. “The answer was no.”

Lister was able-bodied until the age of 15. She studied biochemistry at Jesus College, Oxford between 1991 and 1995, having lost the use of her legs by then. She started a PhD at the University of Kent in 1996 but her condition deteriorated. She lost the use of her arms in 1999 and was unable to finish her doctorate. She was introduced to sailing in 2003, which she says gave her life “new meaning and purpose”. On 23 August 2005, Lister was the first quadriplegic to sail solo across the English Channel.

On 24 July 2007, she became the first female quadriplegic to sail solo around the Isle of Wight. She won the Sunday Times Helen Rollason Award for Inspiration in 2005. She set off to sail solo around Britain on 16 June 2008. Bad weather and technical problems led to the attempt being suspended on 13 August 2008.

On the 21st of May 2009 Hilary restarted her sail from Plymouth. By 14th August she had reached Bridlington on England’s east coast. She reached the end of her journey, Dover in Kent, on the evening of 31st August 2009. On 8th January 2010 at the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show, Lister announced her intention to compete in the 2011 Fastnet Race in a Class 40 boat.

Sources: cruisingcompass.com, en.wikipedia.org, hilarylister.com, timesonline.co.uk