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HOME / NEWS & MEDIA / MACLEAN'S MAGAZINE – APRIL 21, 2008
TAKING ORGAN DONOR AWARENESS TO THE EXTREME NORTH Before his heart transplant, Dale Shippam could barely walk up the stairs without gasping for air. Now, 10 years after his transplant, he is in training to ski to the North Pole. Trudy Mulder-Hall, mother of 3, arrested one month before her 40th birthday. Now at age 47, one year after her transplant, she is swimming marathons! I love adventures,” said Dale, a 47-year-old firefighter from Thunder Bay who received a heart transplant in 1999 at Toronto General Hospital. This sure is a challenge and I’m ready for it. I want people to know that it is possible for transplant patients to have a normal, active. I’m living proof!”. Dale Shippam, Trudy Mulder-Hall and cardiologists, Dr. Heather Ross, Medical Director of the Cardiac Transplant Program, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, TGH and Dr. Michel White, Montreal Heart Institute are dispelling the myth that heart transplant patients can’t live a full an active life after their transplants and taking this awareness to new extremes. In April 2010 a team of five determined individuals including Dale, Trudy and Dr. Ross, will ski to the North Pole to:
Trudy was a healthy athletic mom of three young girls in March of 2002 when she arrested four months after her third daughter was born. When she woke up four days later in the CCU, she was told she had post partum cardiomyopathy (which she couldn’t believe). Two months later Trudy met Dr. Heather Ross who told her that she would likely need a heart transplant within 10 years - unbelievable. In May 2008 she was admitted to CCU where she almost ran out of time waiting for a new heart because she had become critically ill. At the end of May 2008, Trudy received a heart transplant. When she woke up from the surgery, Trudy said she wanted to do the 5k swim at the Ontario Provincials in just over a year (July, 2009). She also wanted to make up "lost time" with her daughters and to "mentally recover". "When you have been progressively unwell for over 6 years it takes while get back on track with "being well again"." Part of Trudy's journey to recovery was to spend more time with her family, do a 200k 2-day bike ride one year after the transplant and she did complete the 5 k open water swim in July! Dr. Ross supported Dale and Trudy every step of the way, providing advice and monitoring of their physical condition. ”You can’t hurt a new heart,” said Dr. Ross. Exercise renews the heart.” The North Pole offers an extreme adventure with physical endurance challenges, open water, floating ice and Polar Bears. We want to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and emphasize that anything is possible after a transplant. This trip is all about testing your limits, living life to the fullest and providing hope to other heart failure patients,” said Dr. Ross. The team has been training for over a year. The last degree to the North Pole is a challenging ski expedition crossing the uneven and broken pack ice of the Polar Sea. Once there all directions point south, all lines of longitude converge there it really is the top of the world. The sun will be continuously in the sky, permanently above the horizon, in essence time will stand still as no particular time zone is assigned to the North Pole. Each member of the team must commit to a rigorous workout schedule including dragging rubber tires to increase endurance and strengthen the muscles required to allow you to pull an 80 lb sled for 8-12 hours per day of skiing over rough terrain, packed snow and ice. The team will be leaving for the North Pole at the start of April 2010 and will ski for 10-14 days to reach the North Pole. Updates during the trip will be available via www.testyourlimits.ca. Media Contacts: Alexandra Radkewycz Janine Ojah-Maharaj Maria Da Silva |
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