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As high as the heart can beat
11:45 a.m. EDT Aug 22, 2003
Crampon practice, rock ridge rappelling, border crossings… all in a day’s work on the Matterhorn as heart transplant survivor Kelly Perkins trains for her upcoming climb.
Fellow climber and expedition photographer Michael Brown writes:
“One may wonder why we are making a big deal out of going climbing and having fun in the Alps. Just this; Kelly is the recipient of a heart transplant. In the process of removing her original heart the doctors could not reattach nerves. Her brain cannot tell her heart when to beat faster, she has to wait for her adrenaline to kick in.
Climbing the Matterhorn is difficult. It is intimidating for experienced mountaineers. To attempt the climb with a transplanted heart is extraordinary.”
Together with her husband Craig, Kelly has spent the past few days methodically honing the skills required to ascend the rugged 14,693 ft. alpine peak.
A day after their arrival to the Almagerller Hut, they tackled the scary rock ridge that rose behind it, the Dri Hornli. Yesterday, the climbers approached the topmost crevasse on the glacier for crampon practice then crossed the border into Italy for lunch!
Michael Brown will film Kelly and Craig's ascent. His credits include work as the Director of Photography for the Global Extremes challenge on Mount Everest this past spring and his documentary of blind climber Erik Weihenmayer’s historic ascent of Mount Everest in “Farther Than the Eye Can See,” now showing in select cities. (Details at www.seracfilms.com)
Several years ago, a rare virus left Kelly dying with congestive heart failure. She received a life-saving transplant in 1995 and, just 10 months after her surgery, began her post-transplant climbs. Since 1996, she has climbed 8,842-foot Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt Fuji where, as a tribute, Craig brought the ashes of Kelly's heart donor.
Because her nerves were severed in the transplant procedure, Kelly's heart is not capable of communicating with the brain in the same way as her original heart. It is unable signal her heart to beat faster and take in the appropriate level oxygenated blood when exercising. Eventually, adrenaline kicks in to compensate, however, the delay makes climbing a more difficult challenge.
Image of Kelly Perkins in Switzerland courtesy of Michael Brown.
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