THE wife of Herefordshire rower Mike Noel-Smith is expected to fly to Australia tonight (Thursday) to be reunited with her husband.

Buffy Noel-Smith is hoping to join Mike in Perth on Sunday, a week after he smashed his head on the side of the boat while attempting a record-breaking row across the Indian Ocean.

Speaking from the family's Much Dewchurch home, Buffy said: "It's such a relief to know he's okay.

"I've kept in touch with him on the phone and he's a lot better now than he was a few days ago."

Mike, along with his rowing companion Rob Abernethy, was close to being rescued yesterday afternoon, as The Hereford Times went to press, by the Australian naval vessel HMAS Newcastle after more than seven weeks at sea.

They were over 1,500 miles off the coast of Western Australia, when a fierce storm threw Mike against the side of the boat, smashing his head and causing him concussion.

Speaking to the BBC, Mike Noel-Smith said: "It was a rogue wave - that is a wave that comes in a different direction from everything else - and this was a big one, a big powerful one."

The two former army officers were 'disappointed' at being forced to abandon the challenge, but three young children back home in Herefordshire are very relieved.

Son Harry Noel-Smith, a pupil at Little Dewchurch Primary School, told his mum: "There's bad news and good news. It's bad news that daddy's been hurt and can't continue, but it's good news that I'm going to see him soon."

Buffy added: "We're still very proud of their achievements. Obviously it's disappointing that they haven't completed the voyage, particularly because of the charity aspect, but they went into this with their eyes open."

The pair had been hoping to raise thousands of pounds for the Sport Aiding Medical Research for Kids (SPARKS) charity in addition to breaking the 64-day unofficial record for rowing between Western Australia and Reunion Island, off the coast of Africa.

If medics give Mike the all clear, his wife expects him to be back in Herefordshire next week.