Evening Times - May 24, 2007
by Caroline Wilson
I’ve saved 1500 lives... but this is my toughest test.
HE has saved more than 1500 lives on the Clyde but Glasgow rescue hero George Parsonage is gearing up for what he says will be his toughest challenge yet.
The 61-year-old is fulfilling a lifetime ambition to row a gondola down Venice's breath-taking Grand Canal.
George is taking part in the world famous 18-mile Vogalonga race this weekend - one of the city's biggest events.
He fell in love with Venice after spending time studying art in the Italian city while a student at Glasgow School of Art in the 1960s.
While sleeping rough in St Mark's Square he made friends with the city's gondoliers who gave him a quick lesson in steering the romantic boats.
He vowed to repeat the experience and now, more than 40 years later, he is realising his dream.
The Glasgow Humane Society officer is setting off for Venice today and will receive two days' intense training before Sunday's race.
He said: "I row boats every day on the Clyde but this is a very experienced form of rowing.
"Gondolas are extremely light and it's difficult to keep your balance because there is no hole for the oar, you just have to balance the pole.
"I've always wanted to do it. It's one of those things you talk about but never imagine you'll actually do."
George will be among a six-man rowing team from Oxford who took part in Glasgow's river festival last year.
More than 5000 boats compete in the race. The course leads across the Lagoon to the island of Burano and back, winding through Cannaregio and the Grand Canal on the home stretch.
Last year, George became the first person to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Royal Humane Society for more than 25 years' of rescue work on the Clyde.