When a Climber Has To Be Taken Down

Czech American tennis great, Martina Navratilova, tried to climb the 19,341-foot summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro but was taken down by mountain porters due to breathing problems with just 5,000 feet to go.

Martina was taken to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre for assessment and was eventually flown to the Nairobi Hospital for further tests. She suffered from high altitude pulmonary oedema - an accumulation of fluid in the lungs.

The 54-year-old, 18-time Grand Slam champion was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year but declared herself cancer-free six months after. She underwent 6 weeks of radiation treatment to make sure cancer cells are all killed.

The rest of Martina’s Mt. Kilimanjaro team, consisting of 27 climbers, was gutted to know that Martina had abandoned the climb, but they had to continue what they had started.

As for Martina, many may think that she failed. But for a cancer survivor to be able to climb 14,000 feet above sea level is quite an achievement.

You can read about chronicles of the climb here.

photo: yahoo.com