Doctors told me I could never fly again after cancer treatment, so I spent ... trends now
A yoga teacher who was warned by doctors never to fly again refused to give up on her dreams of travelling - so spent £5,000 and two months using boats to get all the way to New Zealand.
Bethany Hearn, from Colchester, Essex, was determined to fulfill her dream of emigrating across the world despite warnings from doctors over the risks of flights after skull surgery.
The 23-year-old underwent surgery to remove an abnormal collection of skin cells deep inside her ear - known as a cholesteatoma - in 2021.
The operation meant a part of Bethany's skull was removed and her ear drum was reconstructed with a graft of cartilage.
However, a year after surgery, Bethany was left in excruciating pain during a flight to Greece after the pressure on the plane caused the graft in her eardrum to sink.
Bethany Hearn spent £5,000 on ships and trains to New Zealand after being told by doctors she couldn't fly
Medics then advised the yoga and pilates teacher to avoid all flight travel from then on to avoid any further complications.
But Bethany was still determined to fulfil her wish of emigrating to New Zealand, and began researching ways to reach her destination via ferries.
She said: 'I was told not to fly again because it was too risky. The doctor said the pressure wasn't good for my head. He said no more flying.
'He said my graft would basically sink in even more and there was a risk my eardrum would burst.
'But I really wanted to go back to New Zealand. I sat down and thought: "I really don't want this to stop me travelling".
'When I got told I couldn't fly, I just really didn't want my diagnosis to define me. I just thought: "Why should I not be able to still travel?".
'I made a joke to one of my friends to say I might just get a boat and it went from there. I thought why not? Surely there must be a way. In the olden days before planes, people still went.'
Bethany's first ferry trip on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 set sail from Southampton to New York, on September 15, 2022.
The journey from Southampton, to Auckland took almost two months. Pictured: Bethany's boat journey
She said being a solo female traveller on a cruise (pictured) came with its own complications - including a strict dress code
