Plastic surgeon tackles record breaking round the world yacht race for charity
Leading plastic surgeon, Mr David Gateley MA FRCS FRCS(Plast), of DRG Plastic Surgery in Harley Street and nakedhealth MEDIASPA in Wimbledon, is tackling an epic round the world sailing race for charity. He is calling for his surgical and non-surgical peers and colleagues to support his challenge and join him in raising much needed funds for children across the world who do not have access to sufficient medical or surgical treatment.
Mr Gateley will spend at least 33 days at sea on a 70-foot ocean racing yacht in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. He is racing for two children’s charities, Unicef UKand Child Action Nepal (CAN). Starting from St Katharine Docks in London on 1 September, he will join Team Guy, a crew of 60 people in total aged between 18 and 74, and will be taking part in the first leg of the race – a 7,250-mile passage from the UK to Uruguay.
Mr Gateley, who founded his private surgical practice DRG Plastic Surgery after working in the NHS for more than 30 years, said his skills in the operating theatre will come in useful during the adventure: “As surgeons, we operate on someone in our head first. We go through each step of the surgery we are going to perform and think about all the possible problems we may encounter on our journey. I feel that sailing is like that too – you have to meticulously plan each step. Hopefully my methodical, scrupulous approach will be of benefit to the crew. This is the culmination of more than two years’ planning, intensive training and preparation.”
David will be posting regular updates and video blogs of his journey on the DRG Plastic Surgerywebsite. He will be raising money for Unicef UKand Child Action Nepal (CAN), which supports an orphanage in Nepal. David is a trustee of CAN and regularly visits Kathmandu, where he also provides teaching and surgery at a specialist hospital. He became involved after he was asked to perform plastic surgery on one of the orphans called Kalpana, who had been badly burned when she was seven years old. He brought Kalpana back to the UK and operated on her at St George’s Hospital, covering all the costs, and this inspired him to join the Board of Trustees in 2016.
He says: “Sailing in the race is a dream for me but unfortunately many children worldwide don’t have access to basic medical and surgical care, let alone the chance to fulfil their dreams. Both of the charities I’m supporting work tirelessly to help disadvantaged children and I hope that I can raise much-needed donations to help fund their vital work.”
The Clipper Race is an endurance test like no other. Created by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world, the 40,000 nautical mile race is now in its 12thedition. Each of the 11 identical racing yachts have a fully qualified skipper to safely guide the crew, made up of ordinary, every-day people who made it through the rigorous training programme. Most people take part in one of the eight legs but a small number, known as ‘round the worlders,’ complete the entire event.
Taking part in the Atlantic Trade Winds leg, Mr Gateley will tackle the first major ocean crossing of the race, sailing via the Canaries towards the equator, through the dreaded Doldrums and on to South America. He admitted that he – and his wife – are both nervous about the challenge but he can’t wait to get started. He says: “It’s a daunting task but every time I finish a week of training I just want to run away to sea again. As the day gets closer I’ll be nervous but also ready to get on board and I feel privileged to be able to take part in this famous race.”
Anyone who would like to sponsor Mr Gateley can do so via his JustGiving page: justgiving.com/davidgateley
To view his progress on board Team Guy, please visit:drg-plasticsurgery.co.uk
