Summer Appeal 2024

Hospital visits are just one of the ways we help seafarers.

Our last appeal letter came from our outgoing Secretary General. The next will come from his successor, Peter Rouch. This one comes from me as Director of Development. Firstly, I would like to express my immense gratitude to Andrew Wright for his leadership and inspiration over the past 12 years as Secretary General. He has achieved transformative changes within our global Mission and will be missed. Secondly, we welcome Peter Rouch, who we know is eager to build on previous work and will take the Mission forward to new heights. I am sure you will look forward to his letter in the run-up to Christmas.

In this capacity, I want to offer my own huge thanks to you and all our many supporters. Your amazing, continued generosity sustains the vital work of The Mission to Seafarers, including through these appeal letters. We could not do it without you. My team and I are continuously inspired by what we see and read of the incredible work of our front-line teams and we hope this letter gives you some insight into this work.

My letter, this time, focuses on just one report from the front line. It highlights three things. Firstly, the very welcome and increasing number of women we see on ships, especially cruise ships. We are very focused on being well equipped to meet their needs, not least by increasing our numbers of women chaplains, staff and volunteers. Secondly, the fact that seafaring remains an inherently dangerous way of life. For all the huge improvements in health and safety we still sadly see accidents and facilities, with all the impacts they have on the individual, their families, and the crews within which they are serving. Thirdly, once again it highlights the importance of our supportive local teams in ports, who offer such a range of supportive ministry and service.

This story is that of a 26-year-old woman seafarer from the Philippines, serving on a cruise ship as “ordinary seaman”. On this occasion, she was helping rig the gangway when her foot became trapped between the step and the platform. Here is part of her account of a day she describes as “terrifying”.

“The gangway kept pinning my feet to where I was and the only thing I can do was scream. I could feel how fractured my ankle was and continuously crushing my leg. While in pain I managed to use my radio and call, “STOP, PLATFORM OUT!” I couldn’t bear to see how my feet were being crushed so I was just in a sitting position with my head up.

That very moment, I thought that was it. That’s the end of my life. I felt death waving at me. That I would lose my leg and that’ll be the end of my seafaring career.

 ‘A lot of thoughts came to mind that time. Hoping that it was just a bad dream. But it wasn’t, there I was fully awake. Eventually, after a few times of getting pinned, the gangway stopped. I saw people behind were still there but what really got me is when one of the able-bodied seamen, one of my colleagues arrived. I begged him with my tired voice to put the gangway out. After a few minutes, the gangway finally is rigged out and I’m out of it as well.

 ‘I felt how my crushed foot detached from the hard solid platform. I still didn’t look, and I was so tired. All I want to do is to lay flat on the stretcher. Crew members came to me, holding my hand and trying to comfort me. I heard code blue which means medical emergency.

 Nurses and the doctor came. All they were saying was for me to stay awake and stay with them. I could see how panic-stricken they were whilst trying to keep it together. One of them was gently slapping me in the face to keep me awake.

 ‘The doctor performed the first aid and they put a splint on my leg. By that time I was feeling really tired and my vision was blurring out. Luckily, one of the nurses took an IV fluid and put it on my left arm. I was transferred to the stretcher, and I could see my big toe turning black. ‘I’ve had four surgeries and stayed at the hospital for one month and four days. Every week is a different kind of pain.”

We can only imagine what it would be like to be experiencing all this in a foreign and unfamiliar country, very, very far from home and family. All the people she would most want to visit her were thousands of miles away. While the company in this case were very supportive, thankfully – vitally and in addition – the Mission’s team in Halifax (Canada) were quickly on the case, visiting regularly, arranging a welfare grant and coordinating an array of local support.

The team described her as an amazing and courageous woman. I leave the last word to her:

“I experienced highs and lows. And I really thank God that I have survived it. I’m just telling myself that HE must have something in store for me, so HE let this happen. That HE let this accident happen to see my faith. But I know to myself that HE was there for me when it happened. HE never left me. It could’ve been worse. And HE let me encounter such wonderful people like The Mission to Seafarers.”

 This story is yet one more small reminder of the heroism of seafarers and the incredible importance of our work.

It shows one of the many diverse ways in which we help seafarers around the world. No two days are the same, as our frontline teams face changing needs. We ask you to continue in your support of this valuable work which makes such a difference to the lives of more than 375,000 seafarers annually globally.

My profound thanks and gratitude to you.

Jan Webber

Director of Development, The Mission to Seafarers