As if climbing Mount Kilimanjaro wasn’t a daunting enough prospect on its own, participants in an upcoming fundraiser were put through their paces at CFB Edmonton Monday.
The group is part of Kilimanjaro Climb 2011, which is raising money for the new orthopedics surgery centre at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton.
Four of the climbers are Canadian Forces members who were injured while serving in Afghanistan, but they said they’re up to the challenge.
“I’m extremely stubborn. I want to make it to the top of this mountain. I don’t care if I have to climb on all fours or two broken artificial limbs — I will make it to the top,” said Cpl. Mark Fuchko of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, one of the soldiers taking part in the climb.
Fuchko lost both his legs below the knee in March 2008 when he was struck by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province.
“When I lost my legs, I thought my life was over. I thought my opportunity to do cool things like this was definitely out of the picture,” he said. “Now that I’ve been given this opportunity, I want to make the most of it.”
The climbers were at 1 PPCLI headquarters Monday afternoon to get a glimpse of military life and train “soldier style” for the upcoming excursion, including a trip down the base’s rappel tower.
“It’s two different worlds … it’s really interesting to take a peek into this world,” said Sharlene Rutherford, vice-president of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and one of the climbers.
The foundation hopes the climb will raise at least $575,000, which will go towards a new computerized surgical navigation system to aid in hip and knee replacement surgeries.
“It helps our orthopedic surgeons replace a new hip or a new knee with absolute precision. … it’s like a GPS system for surgeons,” Rutherford said, adding that these systems mean smaller incisions and hopefully faster healing.
Fuchko knows he’ll need orthopedic surgery further down the road, and anything that makes that easier is fine by him.
“For someone like me who’s going to require new hips, anything that’s less invasive, I’m totally for,” he said.
This is the first time the climb has been done and Rutherford was ecstatic with the response.
“We wondered at first if we’d have enough people wanting to do this,” she said. “But we had a waiting list very quickly.”
Two other climbers along for the trip are Ken Hughes, board chair for Alberta Health Services, and his 16-year-old son Aidan.
Hughes said that, as the population ages, the sorts of surgeries in which the orthopedics centre specializes in will be more and more in demand.
“We come from a family where people live a long time — my father lived to 100 and my mother’s over 90. I’ve seen seniors live with good hip and knee conditions and challenging hip and knee conditions,” he said. “Orthopedic conditions are really important as people age, so I thought this would be a great way to contribute.”
More than the cause, the father and son are excited to have the chance to take on such a great challenge together.
“I think it’s a great experience that not many people get to do,” Aidan said. “And it’s all the better that I can do it with my dad.”
And seeing the soldiers getting ready to climb alongside them is truly inspirational.
“It is unbelievable,” Hughes said. “These soldiers have incredible life stories and have demonstrated exceptional bravery and commitment to take this on after they’ve experienced what for other people might be an extremely difficult thing, to survive day-to-day let alone climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.”
The climb will take place Aug. 8 to 19.
