FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — How far would you go to help others?
Four veterans from Amelia Island are rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to raise money and awareness for veteran suicide prevention and post-traumatic stress disorder prevention.
Veterans Cameron Hansen, A.M. 'Hupp' Huppman, Billy Cimino and Paul Lore are taking on the so-called "world's toughest row," expected to take between 40 and 50 days. They're rowing day and night from the Canary Islands to Antigua and Barbuda, west of Puerto Rico.
First Coast News introduced you to them before they set off on their journey. Now, they're in the second week of it, and we wanted to check in and show you how to follow along.
You can follow the veterans at the link on the Foar From Home website or by downloading the YB Races app and going to "Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge."
"They're just rowing two hours on, two hours off," said Ruth Maestre, the Foar From Home project manager and Lore's partner. "In the two hours of resting they don't actually just get to sleep for two hours. They have to eat, they have to wipe themselves off because of the salt spray so that they don't end up with salt sores, there may be maintenance on the boat, they have to make water every day because they're making their own water. So they they're not getting a lot of sleep."
It's part of the international Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, meaning they have an international platform for their mission: stopping veteran suicide.
"In fact, if you look at their boat, it says in huge letters 'end veterans suicide,'" Maestre said.
The 2021 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report from the VA finds an average of 17 veterans commit suicide every day.
"When we talk about the guys and what they're doing and how extreme it is, I think it really pales in comparison to what some of the folks who gave service to our country are going through on every day," said Christie Walsh-Myers, on the Foar From Home land support team.
As veterans struggle to put one foot in front of the other, these heroes put in one oar after the other to save them.
"That's been their mission is to get the word out that these people who have given all deserve better than to come home and just be lost," Maestre said.
Maestre and Walsh-Myers say the four did not have rowing experience and trained for two years before setting out on the ocean Dec. 12.
They've raised close to $700,000 for K9s for Warriors and Amelia Island's Cross the Line Foundation. You can help by sponsoring a mile, which you can learn more about here.