Ontario man hopes to become first heart transplant recipient to summit Mount Chimborazo
An Ontario man hopes to become the first heart transplant recipient to reach the summit of a peak in Ecuador.
When Dale Shippam, 71, of Thunder Bay, Ont. was brought to Toronto General Hospital 25 years ago, he feared he was going to die. He was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and needed a new heart.
"Every day when you go to sleep, you don't know if you're going to wake up," says Shippam. "It was very serious."
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
At one point, Shippam went into cardiac arrest.
"We were doing chest compressions in the elevator on our way into the Coronary Care unit. It was like something you might have seen on a TV show, but it truly happened," says Dr. Heather Ross.
And that was Ross's introduction to the patient who would one day become her partner in adventure.
Shippam got his new heart in 1999. Seven years later, in 2006, Ross and Shippam went to Antarctica, marking their first of 10 excursions they would take together.
They explored the North and South poles, biked to Mount Everest's base camp, conquered one of the world's most challenging trails - the Snowman trek in Bhutan - and more.
They will climb Mount Chimborazo during their upcoming journey to Ecuador. Its position along the equator makes it the closest point to the sun on Earth.
During this trek, Ross and Shippam will have to climb during the night hours, in part because the heat of the sun during the day makes the snow soft and prone to avalanches.
How does a 71-year-old man with a heart transplant manage such a high-altitude climb? With good training, good equipment and good teammates, say Shippam and Ross.
With this trip to Ecuador, Shippam is trying to become the first heart transplant recipient to reach an altitude of 6,310 metres.
Like their other excursions, the climb is part of Test Your Limits, an organization to raise awareness and funds for cardiac research.
Ross, who heads the Department of Cardiology at the University Health Network, says they've raised about 4 million dollars over the years for pioneering technology to help cardiac patients.
In 2006, when Health Canada had approved but not yet issued funding for mechanical hearts, Test Your Limits helped purchase the device for patients.
"Since that time, Test Your Limits continued to fund innovative and disruptive technologies that can sometimes have difficulties getting traditional funding," says Ross.
This year's climb aims to fund the development of wearable, artificial intelligence-driven devices that can predict cardiopulmonary performance, especially in patients with heart failure.
She points to Shippam as evidence of the progress that research and technology can lead to.
"Dale is just an incredible human, right?" she says. "But it also speaks to the wonders of science."
As for Shippam, his message is simple: "Organ donation works. That's what Test Your Limits is all about."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Feds hope to table foreign interference legislation next week: LeBlanc
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to table legislation this week to help the federal government address foreign interference, but he wouldn't say whether the proposal will include a foreign agent registry.