Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Dr Jessie Stone, Kayaker and Doctor



Sometimes doing sport can be just a little selfish. It’s all about my muscle mass, my diet, my training sessions...well you get the picture. So eventually most athletes find time to (warning! Sport cliché on the way) give it back. Dr. Jessie Stone, kayaker and medic has found a more dramatic way than most to combine her passions for the water with her work. 

Long a fan of the extreme rivers in Uganda, Stone was paddling on the White Nile when she had a real look at the village where she was staying. She probably knew that the Ministry of Health there estimates that 320 people die daily from malaria. So Stone took that slightly uncomfortable guilt-feeling we all get traveling in developing countries and acted on it. These days along with competing as a freestyle kayaker, she runs a mosquito net education and distribution programme on the Nile.

The film clip above is from Nomads, which tells her story and was made by another kayaking fanatic – Polly Green. You can read more about Dr. Stone’s project at Soft Power Health.

Do you know about any other Sports Samaritans?
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