ALLIGATORS, pythons and a 1400 mile rowing trip in the Atlantic are what a former York student will face as he embarks on a huge fundraising adventure.

Lewis Colam, 24, has given up his job as a management consultant in London to embark on a trip up the coast of America from Miami to New York.

“In a reckless moment a few months ago I suddenly had the desire to break out of my respectable city job and become an adventurer,” he said.

“I plan to row up to 18 hours a day. I’ll need to because I plan to cover 1,400 miles of densely-populated intracoastal waterway and the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. There will be no comfy bed either, I plan to sleep at anchor on my open deck 15-foot row boat.”

As well as spending his nights open to the elements, Lewis will also be at the mercy of alligators and snakes when he paddles through the southern states of the USA.

He said: “There are big alligators down there and I’m a bit scared that one of them tries to get on the boat. There are Burmese pythons in the area too.”

Lewis, who lived and studied in York until 2010, said his motivation for the trip was to fund research into Alzheimer’s disease, after a loved-one fell victim to the debilitating condition.

“Raising money for research into Alzheimer’s will be my incentive to keep on paddling and I’d like to raise as much money as I can for such a good cause,” he said.

Lewis sets off from Miami on Saturday. To follow his progress and to find details on how to sponsor him go to his website at iamfinechallenge.org