An activist's 21-month journey across the Atlantic in order to raise money for AIDS awareness has come to an end. Victor Mooney, a 49-year-old New Yorker, left the African coast on Feb. 19 last year and finally came to a stop in the Brooklyn Navy Yard last Friday.
Mooney made the epic journey in memory of his brother, who died of AIDS in 1983, hoping that his actions would encourage others to get tested for HIV, according to ABC News.
Mooney's passage has not been the easiest one, with the solo sailor encountering more than a few dangers while crossing the Atlantic. He temporarily lost his passport in November 2014 following a robbery near Haiti, and had to be rescued by in August the Coast Guard in North Carolina after his boat hit a submerged cypress stump and took on water, according to MSN News. His boat was repaired and three months later he arrived back in Brooklyn, although he had lost around 80 pounds over the duration of the trip, according to MSN.
Mooney had previously attempted to row across the ocean three times but did not succeed until last year, when he finally set off from the Canary Islands, according to the Associated Press. He reached the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Maarten in June 2014 and worked his way up from there toward the East Coast.
Survival rates of those living with HIV and AIDS have significantly improved in the last decade, but the stigma surrounding them often prevents people from seeking diagnosis and treatment, according to reports produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mooney hopes to motivate people to get tested for HIV in memory of his brother, telling The Associated Press "I'm just grateful that I've been able to continue and to never give up". A ceremony to celebrate his re-arrival in New York has been planned for today at the Brooklyn Bridge, according to ABC.
