This story is about Kelly Perkins and her husband Craig. I found a great article by Brendan Riley of the Associated Press which states:
A heart transplant survivor has added another first to her long string of mountaineering feats since getting a new heart 13 years ago — a dangerous 2 1/2-day climb up the sheer, 2,000-foot face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park’s famed granite monolith.
Kelly Perkins 46, along with her husband, Craig and guide Scott Stowe climbed and reached the 8,842 foot high dome. In 1996, Kelly had been out of the hospital only 10 months with her new heart when starting some smaller easier climbs up the backside of Half Dome. Kelly said via cell phone from the top of Half Dome:
“I feel great. Physically, I feel I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. It was a great full circle for me to climb the other side. It was a tricky climb, but it also was a very interesting and beautiful climb.”
Kelly Perkins has become the first person since 1966 with another person’s heart to climb some of the world’s best known peaks, says Brendan Riley, including California’s Mount Whitney, Switzerland’s Matterhorn, Japan’s Mount Fuji, Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro and the face of Yosemite’s El Capitan. She also climbed a remote peak in the Andes, near Argentina’s border with Chile, and New Zealand’s Mount Rolling Pin.
Now that is Courage and Heart. Keep up the good work Kelly and Craig. We are rooting for you at Living in Courage Online. Check out some of the press on the Perkins.
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