Beautiful morning. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-B. Healey

Beautiful morning. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-B. Healey

Night fever. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-B. Healey

Night fever. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-B. Healey

The long polar night lasted 105 days at Concordia Station, far longer than an Accident and Emergency night shift I had previously complained about while working in Chelsea, UK! It is a strange thing to miss something so often taken for granted in our day-to-day lives.

On 10 August we saw the sun again rise above the horizon. We greeted it as if it was a long lost friend and I immediately felt its energy surge through me. I felt reconnected with the ‘real world’, knowing that I am looking at the same thing many others would be around the world. Like the dawn of a new year its return also marked the next and final chapter of our winter.

Fire and evacation drill. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-B. Healey

Fire and evacation drill. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-B. Healey

Everyone was in high spirits, physically looked stronger and chef Luca made a Sun cake to celebrate its return. Over the following week I also felt my sleeping pattern start to return to normal as the days gradually grew longer.

‘When the sun is shining I can do anything; no mountain too high, no trouble too difficult to overcome’

Wilma Rudolf

Beth Healey
ESA-sponsored medical doctor in Antarctica

 

 

Sunday at Concordia. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-B. Healey

Sunday at Concordia. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA-B. Healey