Pair’s epic bike trip was a sight-saving mission
Two determine dun iv er sity students have completed a 10,000km bike ride across Africa, delivering new technology along the way that stops people needlessly losing their sight.
Alex Mcmaster ,24, and Merlin He the ring ton ,25, distributed more than 1,000 sightsaving devices to people in remote rural communities, after setting off last year.
During the eight-month expedition from Cairo to Cape Town, the uni pals handed out the gadgets and provided training to medical staff.
The 10,450km journey has seen the students, from the Unversity of St Andrews, cycle through some of the most remote parts of Africa in tough terrain.
Along the way, they have battled 13 punctures, encountered problems with police, bandits and tribal conflict, before climbing through the notorious highlands of Ethiopia. The pair arrived in Cape Town on 15 May after 217 days on the road, having trained 843 people, distributed 1,050 Arc lights and provided 22 training sessions.
Around 285 million people in the world are estimated to be visually impaired, with 360 million hearing impaired. The Arclight, develop ed by the S chool of Medicine at St Andrews, is a low-cost, solarpowered ophthalmoscope - otoscope which enables users to make instant on-the -spot decisions about treatment.
Merlin, who graduated last June with a degree in medicine, said: “Given the statistics on preventable blindness we felt moved to action. The Arclight is an incredible tool that if given to the right peo - ple will help improve the lives of thousands.”
Record-holding endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont sup - ported the effort, saying: “My congratulations and respect to Alex and Merlin for completing an engaging, difficult and well-told adventure from Cairo to Cape Town.”