Former Royal Marines shot by pirates while trying to navigate Amazon for world record

By Ed Cullinane via SWNS

A world record attempt by two former Royal Marines to navigate the Amazon has been postponed - after they were shot by pirates.

Intrepid ex-Commando John Bathgate is seen calmly saying 'I've been shot twice' and showing a bullet's entry into his knee and out his thigh.

John, 35, and former Marine Ian 'Yan' Roberts, 34, were aiming to be the first to travel from the highest source of the Amazon - the Volcán Chimborazo glacier - to the Atlantic coast.

They were trying to make the 5,128K journey to Belém in Brazil - in a mission first conceived by John's dad David, a fellow adventurer.

But they have been forced to give up their trip which started in April for now after they were attacked by an armed rum-drunk 'pirate' - who they fought off - but leaving John with two gunshot wounds.

The pair had also previously been kidnapped by villagers while travelling through Peru.

A graphic video captured after the incident shows John with bullet wounds saying "I've just been shot" to the camera, while Yan paddles him towards a local village for help.

They have now stopped the world first expedition - and hope to try again in the future.

John, from Edinburgh, served in the Royal Marines for eight years and is now a rope access technician.

He said: "Everyone had told us before that when people were drunk, that's when people get shot or stabbed - and the 'pirate' was blatantly drunk.

"When I was hit, there was very little pain. I was incredibly lucky though.

''The shot went through my knee, up through the full length of my thigh and just past my hip.

"It was very lucky I missed an artery, bone or anything. There was very little pain and bleeding - the one through my shoulder was very similar.

''It just felt like a jolt, but one that reverberated through my whole body. It all lasted probably a minute at most.

John was inspired by his dad David, now 82, who in 1968 was mountain climbing in the Andes and wanted to follow the entirety of the Amazon's route.

Unfortunately, he never got round to planning this expedition instead climbing Everest with Chris Bonington in 1972 - but John wanted to take on the trip.

John and Ian 'Yan' had hoped to fundraise for the Royal Marines Charity, Rainforest Concern, along with several other mental-health charities such as RV One.

The journey, sponsored by outdoor company Tiso, would have carried them a record-breaking 5128km. Instead they were stopped around 200 km from the Brazilian border.

The pair say they were 'abducted' twice on their journey by villagers unfamiliar and afraid of 'face peelers' - human organ harvesters who attacked the villages in the last 50 years.

Yan, from Exeter, Devon, served in the Marines for 11 years and now works in security and property management.

He said: "We got across the border from Ecuador into Peru into a town called Andoas.

''We were warned there about some communities who wouldn't be happy with us being in their area downstream.

"We were warned so often though. One person is terrified of anacondas, another is terrified of people stealing their organs - it was hard to judge how dangerous it would be.

"We started moving down the river until we met the first community, where they essentially detained us.

“Some young men lassoed our boat to the shore, and were pretty worried about us being there.”

The pair negotiated with the locals using ‘broken Spanish’ as the locals argued over their fate.

John added: "We were kind of just sitting there as the villagers and elders debated between each other thinking 'so are we going to be stoned to death, or let go'.

"After it happened once, we were more used to it. But the first time it was a strange experience.

"We didn't expect to have two-legged problems, we expected eight-legged issues with spiders. We actually had no issues with nature really.

"We could see in their eyes that they were not killers - so we were not afraid for our lives - but it was frustrating being stopped and searched."

After being detained a second time, they eventually managed to continue their journey downstream into a 'safer' area at a rate of around 75 km per day.

However, they were later confronted by two drunk men who pulled alongside them.

The man and a friend checked out the pair’s kit, before suddenly pulling out a pistol - intending to rob or kill them.

Yan said: "Usually, if villages or communities come out to see who we are there's a concern in their faces about us - but once we wave and smile it tends to be reciprocated. He had a face full of malice though.”

John added: "As we went to leave, he manoeuvred to basically hold onto the back of our boat.

"As soon as the pistol was presented, Yan thrust the paddle straight into the guy's chest to disarm him, and then he dived into the water to capsize them.

"It all happened so quickly, but then I boarded his boat. I think I grabbed him, and there were two shots.

"The first shot was aimed at Yan and missed. The second shot hit me in the shoulder. Then I was in the water.

"When I eventually came up, Yan was tussling with him. He had come up on the other side and pulled their boat down to try and capsize them.

"The guy on the engine was in the water, and their boat was filling up at this point.

"As I came up, I finished the capsize and grabbed the lad at the same time. I vividly remember then having my hand on top of his head - basically trying to drown him. Then, the third shot went off and I felt another jolt through my whole body.

"I thought in my head 'this can't happen again' and found his arm with my hand, and luckily found his weapon.

"As I twisted the weapon out of his hand, I fired two shots under water in the struggle and then it jammed - having the weapon in my control, I then knew that there was no longer a threat.

"I came up from the water, and the guy surfaced about two metres away from me. We then swam like hell to our boat - about 15 metres away."

Thankfully, despite being shot twice, John survived the ordeal and the pair were helped by the nearby villagers.

Yan added: "We had seen the guy's boat had capsized, his engine was gone, his friend was useless and in the water, and we had the gun - so we were satisfied that we were more secure.

"That bit was probably the scariest moment though, because we didn't know if they had friends coming.

"It's very easy to drop into the line of how terrible it could have been, which it could have been, but also it could not have happened at all. We were very unlucky to have that experience at all - but ultimately what we did saved our lives."

John sent an SOS via their Garmin InReach2 GPS device, and they were soon rescued by a Peruvian naval gunboat three hours later, before John spent six days in Iquitos recovering.

Their attackers were arrested by local police, and later one had to undergo surgery after it was revealed he had also been shot in the hip.

After returning home in early August, ex Royal Marines John and Yan are now determined to give the expedition another go - this time with a larger group.

John added: "We discussed it afterwards, with beers, and the best thing to do really was come back and reassure our families.

“The incident hadn't had an adverse effect on us, but returning to see terrified Whatsapp messages from everyone made us realise we needed to leave.

"Also, my arm isn't really working - so I needed to see an orthopaedic specialist. But we're not abandoning it, we're just postponing.

"We're going to go straight back to the small community that helped us just after the incident, and hopefully bring them some thank you gifts.

"They're a poor community, so we'd like to show our gratitude - because this kind of incident does not define Peru.

"We are so grateful for the swift and professional response of the Peruvian Navy, our friends in Iquitos and at home and the Garmin emergency response system.

“When we go back completely depends on fundraising, but I think we're both itching to get to the finish line."

To donate or find out more, visit their website here: https://www.summittosea.org.uk/