Reaching for the top

Then again, the east-end resident was as far from his couch as he could possibly get – namely, scaling Africa’s highest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro.

“(You feel like) it’s not the place where stuff should go wrong,” recounts SKETCH Orléans’ executive director of feeling the beginnings of a common altitude-related illness during the climb. “If you get sick on the mountain, you have to recuperate on the mountain. When you stop to think about it, it’s kind of intimidating. You have to put those thoughts aside and keep a positive attitude.”

Though Brisebois was fortunately able to stick out the remainder of the trek, several members of his group – part of the Reaching the Summit for Montfort Challenge, which aimed to collect $500,000 for Montfort Hospital’s cancer care program – had to turn back before reaching the summit.

“The hike itself was wonderful,” Brisebois explains of the almost two-week climb begun on Jan. 5, adding that dealing with the change in altitude was extremely challenging. “We went through five different eco-systems. Every single day was different.”

To compensate for the lack of oxygen and altitude changes as they ascended, the group took it “one step at a time,” he continues.

“I’ve never walked so slow in all my life,” Brisebois recounts with a laugh, detailing how even rushing ahead to take a photo could mean a wave of illness. “Some people say it’s like breathing through a straw.”

Staying hydrated – including drinking five to six litres of water a day – eating the appropriate amount of calories, getting a full night’s rest and not rushing the pace were key to keeping healthy, he explains, adding that medication and remembering words of encouragement from back home helped with his own brush with illness.

Reaching Mt. Kilimanjaro’s summit on the eighth day of the climb is an achievement Brisebois says he won’t soon forget – especially since the entire experience was captured on film by a Radio-Canada videojournalist, who came along for the ride.

“A lot of emotions came out,” he recounts. “The hugs and the tears and the high-fives. It was kind of realizing a dream. (I felt like) if I can do this, I can do a lot of other things.”

Brisebois isn’t the only one looking at last month’s trip as a victory – Christine Sigouin, president and CEO of the Montfort Hospital Foundation, calls the trek “a phenomenal success.”

Throughout the local community, “people were very, very generous” when it came to gathering funds, she continues, adding that participants also had a fantastic time.

Though Sigouin confirms the group has reached its goal of $500,000, Montfort is waiting for all the participants – some of whom are still travelling – to return to Canada before releasing a final tally of the fundraising results.

In the meantime, the state-of-the-art equipment purchased with funds from Reaching the Summit is helping to reduce wait times and improve care, she says, adding that the project was key in helping to supplement what are “very, very expensive” costs.

With a safari trip through Serengeti National Park and several opportunities to interact with the local community rounding out the trip to Africa – as well as the impact the money raised will make on the ground in Ottawa – Brisebois says overall the experience surpassed any of his expectations.

“It was the trip of a lifetime,” he adds. “I really consider myself lucky (to have gone).”