Why Did a Dying Man Steer the Yukon Swim?

Ross Edgley says a terminally ill man insisted on steering the boat for the Yukon River swim after doctors told him he had weeks to live.

The crew was missing a few boats. The man had lived on the river for years. He said they could have the boat, but he would be on it and he would steer. People told him it was a terrible idea. He refused to stay off the water, and everyone reluctantly agreed. He went out with his son. For the next 70 hours Ross Edgley swam down the Yukon, shoulders hurting, hypothermia seeping into his bones. Whenever he looked up he saw the man cheering, and he kept asking how he could stop. They finished the swim and broke the record. A documentary later went up on YouTube. The son messaged that the man was in hospital, so proud that every doctor and nurse had been made to watch it. The family said the swim was the last great adventure of his career, and he passed away shortly afterwards.

While Ross Edgley was swimming, the man in the boat was the reason he would not quit. He called him an absolute legend.