The heartbroken family of Porthmadog fundraiser Michael Holt have set up their own appeal in a bid to bring his body home.

Michael, who was trying to raise money for charity by rowing 3,000 miles on his own from Spain to Barbados, was a Type 1 diabetic. The combination of this and the challenge he set himself meant he was not able to get insurance for the trip and his family are facing high costs to bring him home from Cape Verde.

In Cape Verde bodies are buried within 24 hours of death and that was the proposal for Michael but his family say they fought against this and want to bring his body home. This has now been agreed but the costs are high.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to repatriate Michael’s body. Organised by Barry Hayes on behalf of Michael’s brother David, the fundraising page explains: “This is a fundraiser to support the repatriation of Michael Holt from Cape Verde, to his family in the UK.

“Michael passed away whilst rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean from Gran Canaria to Barbados.

“As a type 1 diabetic, this was both ground breaking, and incredibly inspiring.

“It also brought with it an increased element of risk. He took considerable measures to limit any issues (a 12v fridge built into his boat for his insulin, automatic blood monitoring in his arm, 24 hour telephone support, etc), but the risk was such, that he was uninsurable. When you operate in the most extreme end of the possible, this is common.

“Michael knew all of this, but as his friends and family will attest, he was passionate, and stubborn as a mule - rowing an ocean solo was something that gave him drive and focus. This was something he wanted to do.

“Around 700 miles into his crossing, Michael stopped communicating with his land support team. A search and rescue operation found him deceased in his cabin, and he was towed to Cape Verde.

“Now the family need to get Michael home. It's not particularly simple and it's an expensive operation. The full extent of the costs is not known at this stage, however if there happens to be a surplus, then these funds will be donated to the charities that Michael was supporting.”

Porthmadog FC shared the appeal on their social media pages. Michael, 54, originally from Porthmadog but now living on the Wirral, was a fan of the club and last summer raised money for it by rowing from Porthmadog to Wicklow in Ireland and back.

To donate to the appeal visit https://shorturl.at/muxzN