After battling a life-threatening bacterial illness, which saw him spend nearly 200 days in the hospital, Greg Bertish’s journey of recovery was fuelled by optimism and a deep connection to the ocean. This resilience, born from his own fight for survival, transformed into a powerful mission to help many young lives.
Cape Town, South Africa (29 May 2025) – Author, adventurer and founder of The Little Optimist Trust, Greg Bertish, is one of those individuals who, after hearing their story, makes you stop and ponder at how unattainable the human spirit truly is.
Back in 2007, Greg spent nearly 200 days in the hospital battling a life-threatening bacterial illness, which, after being misdiagnosed and operated on several times, he thankfully overcame.
Through optimism and his love for the ocean, the multiple heart surgery survivor found a way to survive and reclaim his life in a profound way that has touched countless lives throughout the years.
In 2016, he undertook an extraordinary challenge to sail in a tiny children’s dinghy over 200km in the open ocean, 1km for every day he spent in the hospital.
His mission was to prove that small people can do huge things, a message that has resonated with countless patients, children and supporters. He raised over R300,000 for the new ICU at the Red Cross Children’s Memorial Hospital. That effort later resulted in raising over R1 million to renovate and paint the unit.
The Little Optimist Trust, led by Greg, now renovates and paints under-resourced health and education facilities all over South Africa.
Beyond structural revamps, the organisation brings hope to children in hospitals, shelters, and disadvantaged communities by using sailing therapy, storytelling and educational support to instil resilience, confidence and the ability to dream beyond their circumstances.
During a recent conversation on the Our Voice, Our Future podcast by Breadline Africa, Greg spoke about how the ocean was his lifeline, as a young boy who was often bullied, a Springbok paddleboarder and as a survivor of a life-threatening illness.
“Everything good in my life has come from a link to the ocean or the water,” he said.
Helping little people do huge things
Today, he uses what helped him heal to heal others – sailing as a therapeutic tool to children in under-resourced communities, instilling resilience, confidence and the ability to dream beyond their circumstances.
Greg has found that sailing transcends all socio-economic factors for children of different backgrounds. Whether they are facing a serious illness, poverty at home or bullying at school, when they’re in the dinghy, they gain new skills, self-confidence, independence and pride through accomplishment.
His advice to youngsters going through rough patches, difficult circumstances, or just trying to find their feet is rooted in believing in themselves.
“There is no one person, there is no one place. There is nothing that says you are not as good as someone else. Don’t worry about why you are not as good as other people. You will find something that you are better at than all of them.
“And if you believe and you don’t give up on your dreams however silly they might seem, follow what you love doing and realise how special you are, one day you’ll do something that you love, its going to benefit you and your life is going to be so much better and more enriched.”
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