Lee Spencer – the rowing marine
Lee survived three tours in Afghanistan and then a freak motorway accident changed his life…
Fit, active and seeking an outdoor life, Lee joined the Royal Marines at 21; having grown up in Dagenham, he was drafted to Bickleigh in 1992, and he and his wife Claire moved to Horrabridge. He travelled the world as a Royal Marine for 24 years, taking part in the original invasion of Iraq in 2003 and three tours of duty in Afghanistan, where he worked undercover and was seconded to the Secret Intelligence Service. Whilst in Afghanistan he rescued a puppy caught in wire close to Helmand camp. The puppy was adopted by the camp and then Lee arranged for the charity NOWZAD to ship it back to the UK. In gratitude Lee organised a winter marathon from Okehampton to Horrabridge across the freezing moor, in deep snow, dividing the money raised between NOWZAD and the Royal Marines Charity. Bitten by the fundraising bug, Lee followed this up with many running and cycling events, including a double marathon.
Lee had to stop to fix a flat tyre while travelling on 5 January 2014; cursing his misfortune he posted on Facebook ‘Could this day get any worse’. A few hours later on the M3 he stopped again to help at a serious collision. Moments later a second car collided with the stationary car and the engine and gear box were catapulted into Lee’s right leg taking the limb almost clean off just below the knee, badly dislocating his left knee and catapulting him 10 metres. Amazingly he didn’t lose consciousness; after many sorties into landmine fields and working in areas where bombs were a regular occurrence, Lee felt mentally prepared. Well aware of his life-threatening injuries he understood the crucial need to tourniquet the bleeding right leg. With the help of another motorist, Frank Sabindi, whose daughter stood on the femoral artery while Frank tied a tourniquet, the bleed was stemmed for 25 minutes until the ambulance service arrived.
Waking up at St George’s Hospital, lucky to be alive, Lee started planning the rest of his life, following a full reconstruction of his dislocated left knee and the amputation of his right leg just below the knee. He had been fit, active, defined by his physicality and what he had achieved - he did not wish to be redefined by his disability. By April he was up and walking. In June he took part in a sponsored event, walking one mile, raising £12,000.
A year later he received an email asking for volunteers to join a crew of four amputee rowers on the “Row2Recovery” attempt at a Guinness world record to row 3000 miles across the Atlantic unsupported. After a 6-month selection process, Lee was invited to join the crew of servicemen: Cale Royce from the Light Dragoons, Nigel Rogoff from the RAF and Paddy Galagher from the Irish Guards. On 20 December 2015, four men with three legs between them, set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands on a punishing schedule of two hours on, two hours off, through fair weather and foul, including a terrifying series of storms in Hurricane Alex.
They saw whales and dolphins, were bombarded by flying fish, narrowly avoided a tanker, had to cobble together a third auto helm after damaging two, and Lee broke his prosthetic leg, casually tweeting afterwards ‘Broke a leg, but it’s OK, I’ve got a spare one!’. Despite battling side swells, 30ft waves and losing three stone in weight, Lee and the crew rowed into Antigua 46 days, 6hours and 49minutes later, establishing a new world record. The boat was renamed “HMS Legless” in typical service-style humour and Lee says: “It was both mentally and physically demanding, petrifying at times for someone whose previous nautical experience was the Torpoint Ferry.”
Lee is now planning a second crossing – but this time he plans to row solo. After a chance meeting with General Davies, the Governor of Gibraltar, Lee is campaigning to row from Gibraltar to Venezuela and hopes to break two world records – the fastest crossing for an able-bodied rower, set at 96 days, 12hours, and the first single-handed crossing for a disabled rower.
He tells me why it is so important to push himself: “I am trying to maintain in the nation’s conscience, the wounded servicemen and women who can be easily forgotten. Secondly I want to prove there is life beyond injury and disability - it need not define you or limit your expectations.” His business card describes him as ‘The rowing marine - inspirational, motivational speaker’ – I think that just about says it all.
Nichola Williams
Lee intends to start his next challenge on 18 January 2018 and is looking for sponsorship, especially corporate, both to support the challenge and raise funds for the Endeavour Fund and the Royal Marine Charity. If you can help or want to follow Lee on social media, visit his website www.leespencer.co.uk