A ROW across the Indian Ocean must be a daunting prospect at the best of times.

But for a man from Wickham, it presents an even stiffer challenge.

Ashley Wilson, 36, suffers from severe epilepsy and is also a cancer survivor.

With Mr Wilson experiencing around one seizure a week, there is a good chance one will strike while he’s thousands of miles out at sea.

But the Scout leader, of Dixon Park, is unfazed.

“Nothing will happen really. I would bounce around the boat but it would probably do much less damage than if I had one at home. I have lived with it for so long now that it’s part of my life,” he said.

Mr Wilson was at the Co-op in on The Square on Saturday (Jan 25) to boost awareness for his campaign with a 12-hour row. His efforts will raise money for the Young Epilepsy Charity, The Scout Association Charity, and Macmillan Cancer Support.

He’ll be in good company on his voyage, as he’ll be joined by fulltime adventurer James Ketchell.

Mr Wilson said: “He will effectively be my carer for the duration of the row and he will get a lot of training from the young epilepsy society. He will be very well trained by the time we leave. It’s probably more daunting for James, looking after me, than it is for me.

“James did a presentation at one of the Scouting events because he’s a scouting ambassador.

“We just kept talking about what I could do and we decided me going with James on his round the world cycling trip was a big ‘no’, in case I came off the bike in traffic or something. Everest was a ‘no’. This was the safest thing we could come up with. This was something I could do.”

The pair will attempt to row 3,600 miles across the Indian Ocean in a world record time, setting off in April 2015.