Paul Lore.Photo:Atlantic Campaigns
Atlantic Campaigns
Former Marine Paul Lore spent 51 days rowing across the Atlantic Ocean with three other military veterans in 2022, raising over $900,000 forK9s For Warriors, a Florida-based nonprofit that provides specially trained service dogs for veterans struggling with PTSD.
Now, the 60-year-old retired air traffic controller will be tackling an even bigger challenge—a 2,800-mile row across the Pacific, from Monterey, Calif., to Kauai, Hawaii—to earn $500,000 for the same organization.
“The Pacific is significantly more challenging because of the multiple currents, the cold water, big waves and fog that reduces visibility to zero at times,” he tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.
The voyage starts on June 12 and will take upwards of 48 days. Billed as the“World’s Toughest Row,”the 2,800-mile Pacific Challenge will be a wild ride.
“Your hands and back are constantly aching, your muscles are tired, and you’ve got blisters everywhere," he says of the realities he’ll face.
Lore hopes his physically daunting efforts will help reduce the suicide rate among veterans; in 2020, 6,146 lives were lost.
Team Ohana is comprised of four experienced rowers (L-R): Iris Noordzij of the Netherlands, Marina Hunziker of Switzerland and Americans Paul Lore and Mat Steinlin.Atlantic Campaigns
“The numbers are staggering,” says Lore, a father of four grown kids who lives in Fernandina Beach, Fla., with his longtime girlfriend. “And these dogs can help give people their lives back.”
Before receiving her labradoodle, Snickers, from K9s For Warriors in 2021, Aurora Lucas, a 39-year-old mother of four from Wytheville, Va., spent years fighting a losing battle with nightmares, flashbacks and debilitating panic after becoming a victim of military sexual assault while she served in the Navy in 2005. (Her attacker, a stranger, was not found or charged.) Today, she says, “That dog has fixed parts of me that I thought were broken forever.”
With his three fellow crew members onTeam Ohana(Iris Noordzij of the Netherlands, Marina Hunziker of Switzerland, and American Mat Steinlin), Lore will row nonstop with a partner in two-hour shifts. During breaks, the crew will retreat into the vessel’s two cramped compartments to converse with their support team via satellite phone, monitor weather conditions, chart their navigation—and, most importantly, tend to their battered bodies while also trying to take 40-minute catnaps.
For more on Paul Lore and Team Ohana, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.
“The sleep deprivation,” he says, “is also really hard and so is the seasickness because if you’re not eating, your body breaks down from being depleted of nutrients. It’s a totally unsupported race. If things go haywire, nobody is coming to your rescue.”
Paul Lore (far right) with his rowing team during their 3,000 nautical mile Atlantic crossing from 2021 to 2022.Atlantic Campaigns
“I knew a long time ago that I was never going to be a millionaire,” recalls Lore. “But I also knew that I could use a million minutes of my time to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for people in need.”
For confidential mental health support, vets and loved ones can contact the Veterans Crisis Line at 800-273-8255 or text 838255.
source: people.com
