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Record-breaking quadriplegic yachtswoman Hilary Lister dies Hilary Lister: Record-breaking quadriplegic sailor dies
(about 1 hour later)
Hilary Lister, the first quadriplegic person to sail across the English Channel, has died at the age of 46.Hilary Lister, the first quadriplegic person to sail across the English Channel, has died at the age of 46.
Ms Lister, from Dunkirk in Kent, made the journey in 2005 using straws in her mouth to control her boat. Ms Lister, from Dunkirk, Kent, made the journey in 2005 using straws in her mouth to control her boat.
She was also the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain and set another record by crossing the Indian Ocean.She was also the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain and set another record by crossing the Indian Ocean.
Her stepson, Alex Lister, said: "She turned the suffering she was experiencing into an opportunity." Her stepson, Alex Lister, said: "She was the definition of an inspirational woman."
A progressive neurological disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, left Hilary in a wheelchair from the age of 15. Gradually she lost the use of all her body from the neck down. He added: "She turned the suffering she was experiencing into an opportunity."
Her mother, Pauline Rudd, described her daughter as "gifted" and added: "She inspired me, she inspired all of us to take risks, to live life to the full.
"We were very privileged to have her as a daughter and as a sibling."
A progressive neurological disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, left Ms Lister in a wheelchair from the age of 15. She gradually lost the use of all her body from the neck down.
Mrs Rudd said: "There was nothing the medics could do except pain control. It was just a creeping paralysis."
'Cloud nine''Cloud nine'
Mr Lister said his stepmother never complained about "the bad luck she had been dealt" but instead "got out and did things that any able-bodied person would be incredibly proud of." In September 2003, Ms Lister was taken sailing on a lake by a friend and fell in love with the sport.
In September 2003 she was taken sailing on a lake by a friend and fell in love with the sport. Speaking to the BBC, she said: "It's just incredible, that feeling of utter freedom, the ability to move around and go where I want, when I want."
Speaking to the BBC in 2014, she explained her love of the sport, saying: "It's just incredible, that feeling of utter freedom, the ability to move around and go where I want, when I want." Describing her trip across the Channel, her stepson said: "People thought she was nuts but she went out and did it and she was on cloud nine."
Describing her trip across the Channel, Mr Lister said: "People thought she was nuts but she went out and did it and she was on cloud nine." He said she had "not been well for a while" and her death "was unexpected [but] wasn't a massive surprise to her family".
He said Ms Lister had "not been well for a while" after the latest in a series of operations a few months ago.
He said her death "was an unexpected event [but] wasn't a massive surprise to her family."
He added: "That doesn't make it any easier for her mother, her brothers, all the people who loved her very dearly."He added: "That doesn't make it any easier for her mother, her brothers, all the people who loved her very dearly."
Friends and admirers have taken to Twitter to pay tribute: Mrs Rudd said: "When she was 21 and doing her finals, she was on a morphine drip in Oxford. We really didn't believe that she would survive very long.
"Every day since then has been a gift and a blessing. I always knew I was going to have to let her go."
Friends and admirers have taken to Twitter to pay tribute.