Angela Madsen, who is paraplegic, is the six-time Guinness World Record midst of trying her next success: being the first paraplegic and oldest woman to disappear from California to Hawaii.
“He told us that if he died without trying many times, it was what he wanted to go.” He wrote.
The duo wrote that Madsen’s biggest goal is to paddle an ocean solo and is willing to take this risk because “being at sea makes him happier than anything else”.
“Angela was a fierce fighter as they came,” they wrote. “A life battered with incredible difficulties, he overcame everything and defended the path he had envisioned for himself as he was a little girl.”
A tragic journey
Madsen’s journey was the subject of a documentary film, and he often controlled satellite with his wife Debra and filmmakers.
He left Los Angeles and paddled about 1,114 nautical miles of 1,275 nautical miles from his destination in Honolulu. Madsen was left alone at sea for 60 days.
On Sunday, June 21, Madsen checked in via the satellite and said he would enter the water to fix the bow bar. After not listening for a few hours from Madsen, a search and rescue operation was launched. An airplane was sent and a cargo ship was redirected to find it. The Coast Guard discovered his body, he said.
“A life caused by incredible troubles”
Madsen carried out a maritime in her 20s when she needed to have a back injury and corrective back surgery. However, errors in surgery left her paraplegic paralyzed.
Along with the U.S. National Team, Madsen has won four gold medals and one silver medal at world championships throughout his career. The producers said he would go to the Paralympics three times, for which he won bronze both in rowing and put in a shot put.
“I know that whatever my purpose in this life is, my body, which has been seized differently, physically challenged, torn, beaten, seems to be the tool for me to achieve this. I will not go on foot, I can live with it.
Madsen was an LGBTQ activist and served as the grand marshal of the Long Beach Pride Parade in 2015. He was also a defender of disability rights.
CNN’s Homero De La Fuente contributed to this report.
