By Bronwyn Forbes-Hardinge | ODF (Organ Donor Foundation)
On July 31 last year, my 43rd birthday and just ahead of Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Month, I booked my ticket to climb Kilimanjaro. My mission … an adventure for the soul and a truly incredible way to raise awareness for organ and tissue donation in KZN and South Africa.
If you’d have asked me two years ago if I would ever climb a mountain like this I probably would have laughed and then tried really hard to forget the subject was ever brought up, but not last year. I was on a mission – to improve my own health, to give myself something exciting to focus on and, very importantly, to make a difference.
I started my #getme2kili campaign in May last year, and officially joined forces with local organ and tissue donor awareness group Hero 777, who is affiliated to the National Organ Donor Foundation (ODF), in the weeks that followed. I have always wanted to make a difference. Ever since the pastor at our primary school (Margate) became a live donor by giving a kidney to someone who needed a second chance, I had a deep feeling that my journey was not going to be a simple one.
I registered as an organ donor as soon as I was old enough to, and later, I registered as a bone marrow donor. When I got to know my kidney recipient colleague and friend, and especially after my second life-saving bowel op, I felt even more strongly about giving the gift of life to someone else by kicking my needle phobia to the curb and donating blood regularly.
I still do. As a healthy adult, I’ve offered to donate a kidney to three people - including my friend but we were sadly not a match. She did get her miracle call though, eventually.
The facts around tissue and organ donation are very blurred. Until a person is in the situation where their loved one needs a vital organ transplant, the thought of becoming an organ and tissue donor probably would never cross their mind. I wanted to change that.
I wanted to help Hillcrest’s heart and bi-lateral lung transplant recipient Matthew Legemaate with his bucket list mission to register 50 000 organ and tissue donors to help save as many lives as possible.
I spent months training – cardio and legs mostly – to prep for this journey. The average success rate for reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is between 60 and 80 percent, depending on a number of factors, including the route – I opted for the seven-day Machame, duration, training, and acclimatization.
For the rest, it is an incredibly mental challenge. For me, personally, it was tough, but beautiful – an experience I will live to share for the rest of my days.
On 21 December 2024, just after 6.30am, as a proud organ donor wearing my heart on my sleeve and big fat grin on my face, I summited Africa’s highest free-standing mountain.
I was fortunate in that I suffered very little in terms of altitude sickness and where I did struggle, I was propelled by the very special group of people who were rooting for me and my own determination to see this through to the end for a very worthy cause.
To find answers to all your organ and tissue donation questions and to register as a donor, visit hero777.co.za or odf.org.za. Did you know that one organ donor can save seven lives? Register now, it only takes a minute.
As for my next adventure, I’ve got a list of ideas, so watch this space. You can follow me on IG:@doodlingmountainsmyway or on FB: Bronwyn Forbes-Hardinge (Doodling Mountains)
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