Former Lisneal student Jade to appear on the ‘World’s Toughest Jobs’

Jade Hamilton, from the Newbuildings district, embarks on an extreme adventure in a bid to earn a much-needed injection of cash.

Alongside two other young adults, the former Lisneal College student - anxious to sort out her life and finances - signs up to work as a deck-hand on a rock lobster fishing boat on the west coast of Australia.

The ‘World’s Toughest Jobs’ will be screened on BBC Three on Tuesday night (February 24) at 9 p.m.

Jade told the ‘Journal’ that her stint on the fishing boat was “something totally out of the ordinary” for her.

“I was completely out of my comfort zone,” she says.

“If they’d asked me beforehand what I’d hate to do, I’d probably have told them anything to do with fishing. And that’s exactly what I ended up doing!”

The 23-year-old says that, when she told family and friends what she had signed up for, they just laughed.

“You should have seen the looks on their faces. It was a case of: ‘Jade, there’s no way you’re going to stick it out’.”

Jade says the work on the boat was “back-breaking, repetitive, relentless, dangerous and, at times, terrifying.”

“The water we were working in was full of sharks,” she says. “One false move and you were in the water - with the sharks! It really was that scary.”

Working in treacherous seas under a scorching hot sun was a far cry from Jade’s normal work life.

The one major perk, however, was the money.

In Australia, a seasoned ‘deckie’ can earn as much as $1,000 a day.

Jade says that, in spite of her worst fears, she was pleasantly surprised at how she coped.

“Let’s just say that I got on really well. I didn’t think I would be able to do what I did. I’m proud of myself.”

Jade describes her time on the boat as “life changing.”

“It has given me a whole new perspective on things,” she says.

“I have much more of a work ethic now and a respect for those people who do really demanding jobs in difficult circumstances.”

To see if Jade has the strength and determination to stick it out, tune in to BBC Three on Tuesday at 9 p.m.