|
Background:
Kelly
Perkins and her husband Craig have gained international recognition for
their remarkable
courage and landmark accomplishments. With Craig’s
support, Kelly has expanded the possibilities of what a heart transplant
recipient can do, climbing mountains that few thought possible.
Born in 1961 and raised in Lake Tahoe, California, Kelly enjoyed growing
up in the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. While
attending college in San Francisco, Kelly met Craig who shared her love
for the outdoors. During their early courtship years, the two
spent a great deal of time getting to know each other while
backpacking in the mountains.
After getting married in 1987, their
commitment to each other and desire to visit and hike in other parts of
the world grew stronger.
In 1992, Kelly and Craig were
exercising their passion for travel and the outdoors by hiking the
majestic trails of the Swiss Alps, in the shadow of the Matterhorn, in
celebration of their 5-year wedding anniversary.
Upon returning from this overseas
trip, Kelly recall's the feeling of living a "fairytale life."
Just one month after returning from Europe, Kelly started noticing some unusual symptoms,
including a racing heartbeat. In September 1992 Kelly was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy after and
EKG captured her resting heart rate at 190 beats per minute. She
apparently caught a virus that infected her heart.
For 3 and a half tumultuous years, Craig and Kelly lived in and out of
hospitals until her body eventually succumbed to the ill effects of a
failing heart. On November 20, 1995, Kelly received a heart
transplant at UCLA.
Renewed with life, Kelly went
on to shock the medical world by becoming the first ever heart
transplant recipient to reach the peak some of the world’s most famous
mountains, including one of the “Seven Summits,” Mt. Kilimanjaro in
Africa. In 2003, Craig and Kelly returned to the Swiss Alps to cast
their own shadow on the trails below, this time while standing on the
top of the Matterhorn. Their remarkable comeback story
is a testament to courage, commitment and the relentless desire to live.
Craig and Kelly continue to climb both for
pure enjoyment as well in hopes of
making a positive impact on organ,
blood, and tissue donation and participation. In addition
to planning their future climbs, they spend time as founding
partners of HydraCoach, Inc., where through their
experience as outdoor enthusiast they have developed a new
hydration-monitoring product for athletes, patients and general health
conscious consumers.
For more information about Kelly
send an email to info@theclimbofmylife.com
|
