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Heart Transplant Patient Returns After Scaling Antarctic Mountain

Posted on: Monday, 25 December 2006, 21:00 CST

By TOBI COHEN

TORONTO (CP) - If ever there was proof that a heart transplant patient could lead a full and active life, Dale Shippam is it.

The 54-year-old firefighter and father of four had hoped to become the first such patient to stand atop Antarctica's tallest peak, only to turn back just 200 metres from the summit.

But it wasn't his heart or endurance that gave out it was in fact the health of his doctors, of all people, who fell ill with altitude sickness.

"I'm not disappointed," Shippam said a few hours after his flight landed Christmas Day in his home town of Thunder Bay, Ont., where some 200 friends, relatives and local politicians turned out to greet him.

"We decided as a team that really, the important thing was to get them to lower altitude. The only treatment really for what they had was to get the thicker air."

Among the most critically ill was Dr. Heather Ross, the expedition leader and medical director of the Toronto General Hospital's heart failure and cardiac transplant program.

According to her daily online blog, the "patient became the rescuer" as Ross was suffering from high altitude pulmonary edema and her oxygen saturation level had reached a 40 per cent low.

"She'd been looking after me for eight years. My priority was to get her back down lower so she could continue looking after me," Shippam said.

Shippam who is used to extreme conditions and intense physicial activity as a 25-year veteran of the Thunder Bay fire department refused to call himself the strongest member of the expedition but said he felt good throughout the entire 4,697-metre trek in minus-30 degree weather.

"I felt very strong the whole time. I wouldn't compare myself to anybody else, but as far as the new heart went, it was up to the challenge," he said. "It performed just unbelievably well. It's a cliche, but it didn't miss a beat."

He said the only thing he had to do differently from the other members of the team was carry an extra supply of anti-rejection medication in case he lost some while hiking. He also had to remember to keep it wrapped in his sleeping bag since the drugs aren't supposed to be stored in temperatures below -20 degrees.

Shippam had set out Dec. 3 with a team of six to climb Mount Vinson Massif, the world's eighth-highest peak.

Besides raising awareness about heart disease and highlighting the importance and incredible benefits of organ and tissue donation, the goal of the expedition was to raise $1 million for the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation.

The team has nearly reached its goal and the money raised will go to fund life-saving heart disease research and the hospital's heart pump prgoram.

Eight years ago, Shippam could barely walk up the stairs without gasping. The typically fit and healthy marathon runner suffered a viral infection that weakened and enlarged his heart, a condition known as dilated cardiomyopathy.

He received a transplanted heart seven weeks later and a year after that, got the all-clear from his doctors to begin training so he could return to firefighting.

"It's quite a miracle, really, to think that eight years ago I was at death's door at the Toronto General Hospital in the ICU with, literally, weeks to live," he said. "Now I can be in Antarctica climbing a mountain just from someone's gift."

Shippam said he hopes that when getting together this holiday season, families will take a moment to talk about organ donation.

"It's the type of thing nobody wants to talk about," he said. "Signing the donor card is important, but it's more important to talk about it with your famly so that they're aware of your wishes.

"

Source: Canadian Press

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