Alastair Edward Henry Worsley, was a British explorer and British Army officer. He was part of the successful 2009 expedition that retraced Ernest Shackleton's footsteps in the Antarctic. Worsley died in 2016 while attempting to complete the first solo and unaided crossing of the Antarctic. Attempting to be the first person to cross Antarctica on foot, unassisted and unsupported, he crossed more than 900 miles and was forced, by exhaustion and ill health, to call for help 126 miles from his journey's intended end. Rescued and flown to a hospital in Punta Arenas, in the Patagonia region of southern Chile, he was given a diagnosis of peritonitis, and died. He was 55.
Early life and education
Henry Worsley was born on 4 October 1960 at the Garrett Anderson Maternity Home in Belsize Grove, London. He was the only son of General Sir Richard Worsley GCB OBE and his first wife, Sarah Anne "Sally", eldest daughter of Brigadier J. A. H. Mitchell, of the British Embassy, Paris. It has been stated, without clear evidence, that he was distantly related to Frank Worsley, the captain of explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship, the Endurance. From childhood he had a strong interest in the Antarctic explorers of the early twentieth century. Worsley was educated at Selwyn House, an independentprep school, and at Stowe School, then an all-boys independent senior school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire. A keen sportsman, he captained the school cricket and rugby teams while at Stowe. He did not attend university, and entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst after completing school to train as an army officer.
In 2008, he led an expedition to pioneer a route through the Transantarctic Mountains, reaching a point from the South Pole. The expedition commemorated the centenary of Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition. He returned to the Antarctic in 2011, leading a team of six in retracing Roald Amundsen's successful journey in 1912 to the South Pole, marking its centenary. In completing the route, he became the first person to have successfully undertaken the routes taken by Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott and Amundsen.
Final expedition
Worsley's intention was to follow in the spirit of his hero, Shackleton, and before starting the trip raised over £100,000 for the Endeavour Fund, set up to assist injured servicemen and women. The patron of the expedition was Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. In contrast to the 1997 solo crossing by Børge Ousland, Worsley travelled without a kite to help pull his sledge. Worsley arrived at his starting point, Berkner Island, on 13 November 2015 with the aim of completing his journey in 80 days. He covered in 69 days, and had only to go. However, he had to spend days 70 and 71 in his tent suffering from exhaustion and severe dehydration. Eventually he radioed for help and was airlifted to Punta Arenas, Chile. He was diagnosed with bacterial peritonitis. On 24 January 2016, he died of organ failure following surgery at the Clinica Magallanes in Punta Arenas. He was 55 years old. Worsley was posthumously awarded the Polar Medal for his exploration of the Antarctic.
Personal life
Worsley lived in Fulham, London. On 20 February 1993, he married Joanna, the daughter of Andrew Stainton, at St Mary's Church, Chilham, Canterbury, Kent. Together, they had two children; a son, Max, and daughter, Alicia. In December 2017, his widow and two children visited South Georgia Island to inter his ashes in a place that he loved and near his lifelong idol, Sir Ernest Shackleton.
