Journey to the Top of the World, Part 1 A DC’s climb up Mount Kilimanjaro Barranco Camp, elevation, 12,960 feet. “O K, so then, we start, OK?” said our African guide, Richard. The moon was full at midnight on October 3, 2009. I had slept for only three tumultuous hours that night, but I was ready to complete my journey to the top of Africa. I was tired, yet excited, and full of nervous energy that had been building slowly for the last five days. If all went well I would be on the summit in a mere seven hours. I was so close to the finish, yet my journey had started nearly a year ago… WHERE IT ALL bEGAN In November 2008, I joined the Arthritis Society of Canada’s “Joints in Motion” team. Joints in Motion is a division of the Arthritis Society that fundraises through participa- tion in destination events on behalf of a “hero” – someone who has a form of arthritis and is not able to complete the event due to their condition. Having diagnosed my fa- ther with severe osteoarthritis several years ago, I had my hero. He had been my teacher when it came to back country travel in the Canadian Rockies, and I thought it fitting that I should summit a mountain on his behalf – I signed up for the daunting trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro (19,341 feet), the highest point in Africa and the highest freestanding mountain on the planet. My sponsor list surprised me, in the end – many patients, friends and family donated to the cause, and I ended up raising $11,000 for the Arthritis Society, $1,500 more than their target sum to participate. With my fundraising goals exceeded, my gear packed, and three good luck charms hanging from my necklace I boarded the plane in Vancouver on September 25, 2009, bound first for London, where I would meet the rest of my 12-person team, and then on to Nairobi, where we would board a final flight to Arusha, Tanzania, the starting point of the trek. With the time change factored in, I arrived in Arusha on September 27. www.canadianchiropractor.ca Canadian ChiropraCtor | DECEMBER 2009 • 39 dr. ryan iverach is a chiropractor and registered trigenics practitio- ner practising in Vancouver, British Columbia. he has been in practice for 10 years in Canada and the United States and is currently enrolled in the CCSS (C) sports chiropractic residency program. he can be reached at drryan@back 2health.ca” feature ryan iverach, dC
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