He beat cancer — twice. Now this Tri-Citian is setting sail to solo across the Atlantic
After a 5-year battle with blood cancer, Kimmer O’Reilly couldn’t face returning to a desk job.
It “doesn’t sounds exciting,” he recently admitted.
But some would say the former Tri-Cities real estate agent swung a little too far the other direction.
This month he embarked on an ambitious solo journey to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Readers can follow his journey online at captainkimmer.com.
O’Reilly, 33, told the Herald before departing that he has a new lease on life and wanted to challenge himself.
He said was inspired by Jessica Watson’s attempted solo circumnavigation by boat.
During his treatment at a “cancer house” at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, he watched her Netflix biopic, “True Spirit,” and later read the book.
“I don’t know why it connected with me, but I thought, ‘I want to do this.’ For whatever reason, the thought of me doing this got me excited,” he told the Tri-City Herald. “I kind of want to get out there and prove that I can still do things.”
The 2010 Southridge High grad says he has little experience sailing, but he’s spent months preparing for his maiden voyage.
For about $26,000, he bought a 34-foot 1970 Sparkman & Stephens yacht moored near Chichester, England.
On Sunday, Feb. 22, he confirmed he’d crossed the English Channel to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France. But he’s also faced challenges, including tearing a sail in bad weather and a run-in with a French rescue crew.
He plans to sail the vessel, named Kite, south to the Bay of Biscay before heading to the Canary Islands.
He will cross there using the “leisurely” southern passage to reach the Caribbean. The crossing can cover nearly 3,000 nautical miles and take up to a month to sail, according to Kraken Travel.
O’Reilly then expects to moor in Texas or North Carolina before returning to the Tri-Cities to plan his next adventure.
Few people attempt solo expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean.
That’s because the feat is quite taxing — both physically and mentally — on even the most experienced skippers.
Even simple mistakes can quickly turn lethal. Sailors can face dangers associated with sleep deprivation, rough weather and sea conditions, medical emergencies, equipment failure and falling overboard.
In general, though, recreational sailing with proper precautions is generally considered as safe as driving.
‘I thought I was a zombie’
Locals have probably spotted O’Reilly riding around the Tri-Cities on his motorcycle with his Australian Shepherd service dog, Casper, strapped to his back.
After high school he moved south in 2010 to study finance at Arizona State University and then worked in private equity in Seattle and California.
Life was smooth sailing before being diagnosed with leukemia in October 2020.
Fatigue and small seizures were the first indicators that something might not be right with his health. O’Reilly says he broke some ribs simply rolling over in bed.
He was forced to undergo six months of chemotherapy following his diagnosis.
O’Reilly says he felt his life was over before it could even begin. He says the fallout from his sickness eventually took everything from him: His job, career and girlfriend.
The year he was diagnosed was the year “he went big,” after several years working in finance. But his world was flipped upside down very quickly. He described the treatment as “brutal.”
“I thought I was a zombie. You look like the ‘Walking Dead,’” he said. “I felt I didn’t have a soul at all.”
The treatment worked, though, and in June 2022 he moved to Scottsdale to work as a banker, in an attempt to turn his life around.
But he received a second cancer diagnosis in October that year, and also was fighting a fungal infection.
He moved back to Tri-Cities to be closer to family. Following four months of chemo, he underwent a stem cell transplant from his brother in June 2023. He’s since been in remission since December 2023.
O’Reilly now works as a real estate agent and general contractor in the Tri-Cities’ booming housing market.
Cancer put him out of commission for more than four years, he says, but he feels he’s ready to face life’s toughest challenges again.
He recently summitted Mount St. Helen’s. O’Reilly says it was one of the hardest things he’d done, but it filled him with a sense of accomplishment.
He said he felt like he unlocked something that day, a newfound belief in himself.
“I’m hoping that I learn that I got different limits than I had, and that I can do some exciting stuff,” he said.
O’Reilly said he expected to do some writing and filming on his transatlantic journey, documenting his experience out on the open water.
He also planned to do some reading. Among the books he planned to bring included the Bible, Quran and Talmud.
