A teenage swimmer from Rainham, whose charity cross-Channel swim nearly ended in tragedy, has no memory of being dragged to safety.
MidKent College student Sophie Mills, 19, was forced to abandon her challenge three miles from the French coast amid serious fears that she may be suffering from hypothermia.
Sophie, 19, from Solomon Road, said: “I kept crashing into the support boat, which is when they started to realise something was wrong.
“It must have been really scary for everyone but they took good care of me, dressing me and wrapping me up in a sleeping bag before I fell asleep in the boat. The next thing I remember was getting back home.”
Sophie was still proud of her achievement. She said: “I really enjoyed the swim at first. But the longer it went on the colder the water got and the more I ached.
“I swam from 12.30pm until 1am the following day, so it was a bit gutting that I didn’t reach France. But I am still really proud I got as far as I did.
“I love swimming but the Channel is very hard to train for, so I think I’ll leave it at that.”
Sophie is raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. So far she has raised nearly £1,000.
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