Transplant patient conquers Kilimanjaro

  The Associated Press Kelly Perkins
(right) is hugged by friend Susan Kjesbo after
they climb Mount Kilimanjaro on Oct. 18, six years after a heart
transplant saved Perkins’ life.

By Natalie Digate
Daily Bruin Contributor

After seven grueling days of hiking nearly 20,000 feet from the
mountain base of Mount Kilimanjaro to its rainy and wind-blown
summit, a UCLA heart transplant patient conquered Africa’s
highest peak.

Despite the odds, 40-year-old Kelly Perkins surpassed all known
climbing records for heart transplant recipients by nearly 5,000
feet when she reached the pinnacle of Mount Kilimanjaro on Oct.
21.

Perkins was determined to reach the mountain’s summit to
celebrate the progress in medicine since 1967 when African
cardiologist Christiaan Barnard performed the first heart
transplant in the world.

“I didn’t believe she could do it,” said Jon
Kobashigawa, Perkins’ cardiologist and medical director of
the UCLA Heart Transplant Center.

“But certainly she proved me wrong,” he
continued.

“(When I climb) it reinforces that I am stronger than I am
weak.” Kelly Perkins Heart transplant
patient

Since receiving her heart transplant in 1995, Perkins finds
physical activity more challenging.

Not only do her anti-rejection medications have adverse side
effects like tremors and shaking, but her implanted heart is less
able to distribute adequate amounts of oxygen to the rest of her
body, hindering physical activity.

Despite these health challenges, Perkins and her hiking team
began the 4,000-foot summit hike at midnight on the seventh day of
the climb.

After nine hours, the fatigued heart patient and her hiking team
made it to the peak.

Perkins’ overwhelming drive to be normal and live life as
fully as she did before the transplant pushed her to the
mountain’s peak.

“If I stop, I am conceding to my illness,” she
said.

“I still have a lot of challenging days, but (when I
climb) it reinforces that I am stronger than I am weak. It’s
important to know that,” she continued.

Perkins has also reached the peaks of Yosemite’s Half
Dome, California’s Mount Whitney ““ the tallest peak in
the United States ““ and Japan’s highest peak, Mount
Fuji.

“Kelly’s accomplishments are truly landmark,”
Kobashigawa said. “With perseverance, she gets over the
complications … and she still is able to achieve a tremendous
quality of life.”

Perkins said she hopes to inspire the public to become organ
donors. Because a 40-year-old woman signed her donor card, Perkins
proved she had the strength, determination and heart to be the
first transplant patient to conquer Africa’s highest
peak.