Siberia Wrap-up: Johan and Micke cold, Vancouver to Moscow in hospital
Nov 24, 2004 10: 05 EST
Johan and Micke are still cold:
"Sunny today, a light but cold wind from south, -40°F.
I've never in my whole life experienced such a cold! It's a struggle twenty-four hours a day just trying to stay alive and not loose a vital body part to the cold.
It's now seven days since we left Zyryanka and it has turned out that I was totally wrong when it came to the cold and the open water. I thought, before we left, that the cold wouldn't bother us too much and that we would have more problems with the open, freezing cold, water. But I couldn't have been more wrong!
One small mistake, and it can be over!
This cold is dangerous and it is definitely necessary to take it seriously! The fingers and the face is worst at risk, and it seems like it is only a question of time before we will get a serious frost bite.
Mikael felt the power of the cold already the first day we skied when his right thumb got a small frost bite, nothing serious though, at least not yet. And I've had a small problem with my nose, so every night when I go to sleep, I feel a light pain. One small mistake, and it can all be over!
Heavy load
But this is only the beginning, the toughest part is still to come. My sledge(pulk) feels heavier for every day and yesterday it snowed the whole day which makes it even tougher. I feel very cold and tired right now, and I'm starting to wonder, even though it's only been a few days, whether I'm going to make it all the way to Srednekolymsk."
The other Siberia: Back in Vancouver!
The guys rowed across the Bering Sea, and went hiking through Siberian wilderness, but the latest from the teams webmaster on Tim and Colin is not good:
The team is taking a temporary break from the expedition while Colin awaits surgery in Vancouver. He arrived back in his hometown November 19th. Colin has dual kidney infection, infected bladder and an acute urethral stricture. He will be on intravenous antibiotics and fluids for approximately 2 weeks until the infection clears. He will then need to undergo surgery to deal with the stricture.
Raising money from hospital bed
Colin will be working to raise additional funds for the expedition, as the unexpected medical emergency has dissolved a substantial portion of the expedition budget.
Colin cannot continue on the expedition without this surgery. The doctors claim that it would be suicidal. This is a huge setback to the expedition, both financially and in terms of lost time. The team will likely be 2-3 months behind schedule and thousands of dollars off budget.
Live image over Contact 3.0, courtesy Johan & Micke.
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