GP Nell Wyatt faced a life-or-death dilemma in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, when she had to pull her boat out of a round-the-world yacht race to save a sick fellow crewman.

The keen yachtswoman, who practices at the Bradford on Avon and Melksham health partnership, is taking part in the gruelling Clipper race.

Her boat Jamaica Get it All Right was travelling from China to San Francisco when disaster struck.

The 54-year-old leapt into action when team member Mick Wood was struck down with pneumonia on Sunday.

After seeking advice via satellite phone she made the difficult decision to recommend they suspend racing and make a 400-mile diversion to Japan.

Writing in the team blog, she said: “It was very difficult knowing I was essentially stopping us from having any chance of getting a good result, as the time we would lose will be next to impossible to make up.

“The crew have been wonderful and were unanimous in their support of the decision to suspend racing.”

After medical treatment, Mr Wood is now fully recovered and the 70-foot yacht, with its 20-man crew, is back in the race. It is currently 645 nautical miles east of Japan, but in last place.

Track its progress on www.clipperroundtheworld.com