Victoria based solo-sailor Glenn Wakefield reported a medical emergency at 1400 UTC on Wednesday, September 16, 455 miles northwest of San Francisco from aboard his S&S designed Comanche 42 West Wind II. He put out the call via inReach after suffering a massive stroke, prompting engagement by the USCG.
A search and rescue aircraft was sent to evaluate and circled for an hour but could not see anyone on deck. The USCG contacted the container ship Colombo Express for assistance, which reached Glenn at 0300 UTC on Friday, stood by for 3 hours and then brought Glenn aboard. The ship took him to San Francisco where he remains in the hospital on a ventilator in critical but stable condition, the stroke having affected his left side.
An accomplished sailor, Glenn had departed Victoria September 6th on an attempted non-stop, west-about solo-circumnavigation.
While it is hoped he can be quickly transported back to Canada, his doctors are against his traveling for at least a week, and because of Covid, his wife MaryLou cannot visit him. In an update on the website www.glennwakefieldaroundthewor
We are working hard to Bring Glenn Home with the help of so many people here in Canada and the U.S.
Glenn did not anticipate touching U.S. soil and as such does not have U.S. medical insurance. We have created a GoFundMe page to help raise funds to resolve his U.S. medical bills and bring him home to Victoria for care.
Thanks goes out to Doug Adkins for contributing to this report.
