Oceans of Hope began with a simple but radical question: what if people living with multiple sclerosis were invited onto a sailing vessel as crew, not observers? In this episode, Mathew Embry speaks with Dr. Mikkel Anthonisen, a medical doctor, lifelong sailor, and the founder of Oceans of Hope, a global sailing expedition for those affected by MS. He is joined by filmmaker and sailor Ellia Rhodes, who documents one of the voyages and its impact. Together, they explore how sailing as active participants builds confidence, trust, and possibility in the face of chronic illness.
What if the most powerful medicine for multiple sclerosis wasn’t found in a bottle—but on the open sea?
In this episode of Hope and Health, host Mathew Embry sits down with neurologist and sailor Dr. Mikkel Anthonisen and filmmaker Ellia Rhodes to explore the extraordinary story behind Oceans of Hope—a global sailing program that is redefining what’s possible for people living with MS.
This is more than a sailing story. It’s about reclaiming identity, rebuilding confidence, and proving that diagnosis does not equal destiny.
Dr. Anthonisen had spent years working as an MS specialist at the University Hospital in Copenhagen. In his white coat, he did what doctors are trained to do—diagnose, treat, monitor. But something felt incomplete.
Sitting across from patients whose lives had been suddenly reshaped by MS, he realized medical care alone wasn’t enough. People weren’t just losing physical function. They were losing confidence. Dreams. A sense of possibility.
Then one patient changed everything.
A blacksmith who had built his own steel sailboat—planning to sail around the world—found his lifelong dream shattered by an MS diagnosis. Watching that spark dim was the catalyst. Dr. Anthonisen, himself a lifelong sailor, felt a clear and urgent calling:
If MS was taking dreams away, perhaps sailing could help give them back.
From that moment, the vision was bold and unapologetic: sail around the world with a crew made up entirely of people living with MS.
And remarkably, they did.
Between 2014 and 2015, Oceans of Hope completed a global circumnavigation with rotating crews of individuals with MS actively running the boat. Not as passengers. Not as observers. As sailors.
Oceans of Hope is not symbolic therapy. It’s real sailing.
Crew members stand watch in the middle of the night. They navigate changing weather. They cook for one another. They hoist sails. They troubleshoot problems. They adapt to fatigue, balance challenges, and uncertainty—together.
For many participants, this is the first time since diagnosis that they feel strong again.
Living with MS can quietly shrink a person’s world. People begin to question what they can safely do. Friends and family become cautious. Activities are reduced. Confidence erodes.
But at sea, something shifts.
Participants are trusted. They are needed. They contribute. And in doing so, they begin to see themselves differently.
Beyond the physical challenge, the emotional transformation is just as profound.
On board, there’s no need to explain fatigue. No need to justify invisible symptoms. Everyone understands.
That shared understanding builds connection quickly. Crew members often describe the experience as life-changing—not because it eliminates MS, but because it reframes it.
MS becomes something they live with, not something that defines them.
Oceans of Hope creates a space where vulnerability and strength coexist. Where fear is acknowledged—but not obeyed.
Filmmaker Ellia Rhodes encountered the Oceans of Hope Challenge—its UK-based sister initiative—at a Royal Yachting Association awards ceremony in 2024. Curious about the program, she began learning more.
The deeper she looked, the clearer it became: this story needed to be told.
Her film captures not only the adventure of sailing, but the emotional undercurrent beneath it—the doubt before departure, the breakthroughs at sea, the tears, the laughter, the quiet realizations that happen somewhere between horizon and home.
Because what Oceans of Hope represents is bigger than sailing.
It’s a challenge to the assumptions surrounding chronic illness.
Too often, the narrative around MS centers on decline, limitation, and caution. While those realities exist, they are not the whole story.
Oceans of Hope offers a counter-narrative:
This isn’t about ignoring the disease. It’s about refusing to let it dictate the boundaries of a life.
As Dr. Anthonisen explains, empowerment itself can be therapeutic. When individuals experience themselves as competent and courageous again, it changes how they approach everything—from treatment to relationships to future goals.
Even for those not living with MS, the message resonates deeply.
We all face moments when plans unravel. When identity shifts. When something we thought defined our future suddenly disappears.
Oceans of Hope reminds us that while we cannot always control what happens to us, we can choose how we respond.
Sometimes the response is quiet acceptance.
Sometimes it’s resilience.
And sometimes, it’s hoisting the sails.
In this powerful conversation, Mathew Embry, Dr. Mikkel Anthonisen, and Ellia Rhodes explore how a single patient’s shattered dream became a global movement—one that continues to sail every year, carrying new crews, new stories, and new proof that life with MS can still be expansive.
Because hope is not passive.
Sometimes, hope sets sail.
