In her fourth attempt to swim the distance between Cuba and Florida, 62-year-old Diana Nyad was forced to cut her journey short.
Severe jellyfish stings and a lightning storm prompted her crew to pull her from the ocean about halfway through her swim, according to CNN.
She had been in the water for about 60 hours. Nyad’s face and lips were swollen, but she wasn’t seriously injured, according to her crew.
From the first night of her swim, she faced adversity. She was stung by jellyfish on her lips, forehead, hands and neck. Later, a storm caused her to veer of course.
Her previous attempts were also cut short by severe weather, jellyfish stings and an asthma attack.
Nyad had said she hoped her swim would inspire a mature generation to reach their goals.
“When I walk up on that shore in Florida, I want millions of those AARP sisters and brothers to look at me and say, ‘I’m going to go write that novel I thought it was too late to do. I’m going to go work in Africa on that farm that those people need help at. I’m going to adopt a child. It’s not too late, I can still live my dreams,’ ” she had said, according to CNN.
