Former Royal Marine rescued in rowing challenge

Andy Merry, from Deal, is a former Royal Marine

A former Royal Marine from Kent and his team have been rescued just days into an attempt to row across the Atlantic Ocean.

Andy Merry, from Deal, took on the 3,000-mile fundraising challenge as part of a four-man crew of injured ex-servicemen, including veterans from Ukraine.

The Row4Ukraine team developed serious problems shortly after leaving Gran Canaria on Saturday and found themselves stranded in the open sea.

Mr Merry, who has multiple sclerosis, said he had a new grandson to meet and was "happy to be back on dry land".

The four-man crew hoped to complete the rowing challenge in six weeks

The team had been hoping to take around six weeks to row to Barbados.

But with steering problems and the deck deteriorating the decision was taken to get them to safety.

After drifting for hours they were rescued on Wednesday by a search and rescue helicopter.

Mr Merry said: "I found it quite traumatic and I genuinely had a tear in my eye in that helicopter.

"We'd invested so much in that boat it was almost like leaving a friend."

The four crew members were winched to safety by a rescue helicopter

The aim of their mission had been to highlight the human cost of the war in Ukraine and raise £150,000 for the Invictus Games Foundation.

The crew had been led by former Royal Marine, amputee and record-breaking Atlantic rower Lee Spencer.

He said: "The crew is gutted. But we had to make the right decision."

Mr Merry said he was uncertain whether he would give the challenge another go.