Hi my name is Steve and for the last eight or more years my beautiful soul mate Philippa and I have been living our dream retirement. We are both 67 years old but feel we have many more years of adventure ahead of us.

We decided long ago, when we retired we would sell up, buy a boat and sail the world. We didn’t have the money to just leave our responsibilities behind so we decided that we would work for nine or ten months a year and spend the balance on our boat Rusalka. Rusalka is an Elan 434 Impression series sailboat. She has been our home and our escape from reality until about one month ago.

We sailed from Greece to France to meet some friends before heading back to Australia. We were attempting a tricky mooring manoeuvre in a Marina we had never visited when a line which Philippa had thrown over a bollard on the pier wrapped around her left leg. The force of the boats momentum and the sheer weight of the boat pulled the rope tight severing Philippa’s left leg just below the knee. She screamed in pain and I ran to see her lying on the deck, her leg in the process of separating from her body. I grabbed a rope and tied it tightly around the top of her leg and screamed for help. Neither of us speak French and it took a few minutes for help to arrive. A young man started calling for emergency help while a very distressed Marina manager held Philippa’s hand giving her encouragement in broken English. We were all lying in Philippa’s blood and I remember thinking you can’t die baby. It took about thirty minutes before the fire fighters and paramedics arrived and about ten minutes later a helicopter arrived with a rescue team from the hospital. I have never seen bravery like it. Philippa was in shock, she couldn’t move and her body was starting to shut down through blood loss but she hung in. She was airlifted to Montpellier Hospital and it was touch and go for about twelve hours. She made it after numerous transfusions and a four hour procedure, and it wasn’t long before she was asking to be wheeled outside. Within three weeks we were on a plane bound for home in Brisbane.

The care she was given in Montpellier Lapeyronie Hospital was second to none but it wasn’t cheap. We were handed a bill for more than €35,000 but our insurance only covered $30,000. We are now facing a couple of years of rehabilitation, a large bill to pay and a lifestyle completely removed from the one we had chosen.

Over the years many people have followed our adventures on Facebook through Cruising Rusalka and I know many will be 

upset to see our adventure come to a stop. Philippa and I will never stop following our hearts and we want our dream to continue. We’re hoping some of followers and friends can help that happen.❤️