DESPITE DISABILITY

“I lost my leg in 1982 and have been sailing around the world ever since,’’ Tristan Jones—sailor, author and adventurer—told a group of handicapped Thai children in Bangkok, reports DPA. The message was clear,’’ You must not Wait for people to help you. You must learn to help yourself and must do things your own way,’’ said the bearded Welsh captain. Jones, 53, has been doing extraordinary things his own way since 1952 when he was discharged from  Britain’s Royal Navy for being “physically unfit for sea.’’ He had received a leg wound in active duty during World War II that eventually led to his invalid status and in 1982 resulted in the amputation of his left leg, above the knee. Since 1953, Jones has been proving to the world that he is anything but “physically unfit for sea.’’ In the past 34 years he has sailed 640,000 kms (all in craft under 40 feet), made 20 trans-Atlantic Ocean crossings (nine single-handed) and circumnavigated the world three times. (The Times of India, New Delhi, August 18, 1987)