Two former Royal Marines fight off gun-wielding pirates using paddles during Amazon trip

Two former Royal Marines have told of having to fight off gun-wielding pirates using paddles during a charity expedition in South America.

John Bathgate and Ian Roberts were trying for a world first – to complete the journey from the Volcán Chimborazo glacier summit through 5,000km of wilderness to the Atlantic Ocean.

However, the trip of a lifetime took a turn when they faced gunfire from pirates close to the Colombian border, with Mr Bathgate – who served in the Royal Marines for eight years – shot twice before the pair were able to disarm the attackers and reach safety.

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While mountain climbing in the Andes in 1968, Mr Bathgate’s father, 82-year-old David, wanted to follow the entire route through the Amazon. However, he never achieved it – so his son was inspired to complete the route for him, raising money for the Royal Marines Charity, RV1UK and Rainforest Concern.

The pirates who ambushed the boat were “blatantly drunk”, Mr Bathgate said, noting he was “lucky” the shot didn’t hit an artery.

“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.

The pair noted that they were abducted “twice” during their journey by locals afraid of “face peelers” – human organ harvesters who had attacked the villages they were travelling through in the last 50 years. After crossing the border from Ecuador into Peru, they were “detained” for the first time in a town called Andoas by a group of young men who “lassoed” their boat to the shore.

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After it happened a second time, they moved downstream to a “safer” route. However, it was here that they were ambushed by the “drunk” pirates who “manoeuvred to basically hold onto the back of our boat” before firing three shots at them.

“Yan [Ian] thrust the paddle straight into the guy’s chest to disarm him and then he dived into the water to capsize them”, Mr Bathgate recalled. “The first shot was aimed at Yan and missed. The second shot hit me in the shoulder…then, the third shot went off and I felt another jolt through my whole body.”

Finding the pirate’s weapon, Mr Bathgate fired two shots underwater and then jammed it before swimming “like hell” to their boat, which was approximately 15 metres away.

“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”, he added.

But the experience hasn’t discouraged the pair from wanting to finish the mission: they’ve pledged to return within the next year to finish it.

“This minor hiccup certainly won’t keep us from finishing”, a post shared to the pair’s Instagram read. “The actions of two individuals do not define Peru, a country whose people we have grown to love.”