Shropshire Star

WATCH: Intrepid Shrewsbury rower Kelda Wood completes record-breaking 3,000-mile trip of the Atlantic

Intrepid disabled Shrewsbury rower Kelda Wood has today completed her incredible 3,000-mile solo journey across the Atlantic.

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Kelda Wood, inset, crosses the finishing line. Photos: Atlantic Campaigns.

Kelda has become the first adaptive person to ever row the Atlantic alone.

She stepped back onto dry land in the early hours of this morning to the sound of Queen's We Are the Champions.

WATCH: Kelda Wood completes her amazing journey

A crowd of people waited to give her hugs and welcome her back after nearly three months at sea.

She had travelled from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to the Caribbean Island of Antigua.

It is the second record for Kelda, who has used the feat to raise awareness of young people recovering from life-changing injuries. She is also the first adaptive person to summit Mt Aconcagua.

She said: "I don't know how I feel.

She did it! Photo: Atlantic Campaigns.

"The whole thing has been a total battle. The last five days has been fighting the wind. I've been fighting it all day. I didn't think I was going to do it. Now we have and I'm here and I don't know what to think."

Kelda said she had hated moments of her trip, but that it had served its purpose.

"The whole reason why I did this was to reach and inspire young people," she said. "I've hated moments of it, but the reason why I've been doing it worked.

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"This was never about rowing the Atlantic, it was about inspiring young people and raising awareness of the charity, and we've ticked those boxes in bucket loads."

She rowed for 75 young people, naming them each day on her website rowtoraise.com and sharing their stories. She finished the feat in 76 days.

"How is that for timing?" she said.

"The stories were so powerful and that has been a massive part of it. Thank you to all of them. They are as big a part of Row to Race as I am."

Kelda celebrates her amazing achievement. Photo: Atlantic Campaigns.

Kelda said her hardest moment came as she was about to hit a major milestone on her trip.

"I was sitting on 1,004 miles to go," she said. "I got up to row and there was thunder and lighting, wind everywhere, and I just couldn't row.

"I had to sit in the cabin all day, and I watched the boat being blown down to 1,000 to go, and then blown back. The frustration of thinking I was going to smash 1,000 and having to sit in the cabin being blown forward and backwards – that was the worst."

Kelda was left with severely restricted movement in her left leg following an accident on a farm.

She narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2016 Paralympic Games, and in January 2017 became the first female para-athlete to reach the summit of Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America. She said it was this experience which prompted her to sign up for the Atlantic challenge.

Kelda has also been attempting to raise £50,000 for her own Climbing Out charity, which she founded.

To donate visit justgiving.com/fundraising/rowtoraise