When Martina Navratilova set out to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro earlier this month, she thought it would help her overcome what has been one of the toughest years of her life. For the nine-times Wimbledon winner, who broke her wrist in January and was diagnosed with breast cancer in April, a six-day charity climb up the highest mountain in Africa would make her feel like a champion again.
But having led a team of 25 to within 4,540ft of the 19,340ft Tanzanian peak, she was overcome by a combination of altitude sickness and a stomach infection which prompted an agonising, night-long rescue in which the 54 year-old was given an emergency oxygen supply and carried in darkness down the mountain on a makeshift stretcher.
In the first full interview since her release from three days in a Kenyan hospital last weekend, she tells how close she came to dying from a high altitude pulmonary oedema, a condition caused by excess fluid developing in the lungs as a result of the body adapting to extremes of elevation.
“If I hadn’t said anything that night on the mountain and just gone to bed, who knows if I would have woken up,” she says. “I didn’t realise how close it could have been.” Following a successful lumpectomy to remove a tumour, Miss Navratilova had undergone six weeks of radiation therapy in May. “It shouldn’t have affected my climb,” she says, “but who’s to say? The radiation certainly knocked my body’s defences down.
“What set me off was the stomach bug I picked up the night before our climb began. I didn’t throw up, but I felt horrible. On that first day’s walking, which was the easiest day we had, I felt miserable.”
A porter with the Tanzanian crew assisting the climb, in aid of the international Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, recalls how Miss Navratilova “wasn’t smiling or joking” with the other climbers, and was “just by herself”. Miss Navratilova says she was simply trying to deal with her stomach cramps.
“I knew this was going to be a very difficult week, but it turned out to be the week from hell,” she explains. “What was so hard was that usually I’m the one cheering everybody on, but here I was, needing all the help because I wasn’t well.” Miss Navratilova had hoped the stomach pain would pass, allowing her to regain her strength as the climb became more challenging.
Instead, it paved the way for worse symptoms as her body, already weakened by being unable to rehydrate and take on sufficient amounts of food, succumbed to the greater altitude and thinning air. To make matters worse, it rained heavily every day, so the climbers were trekking in permanently wet clothing.
On the fourth day the team descended from its camp at 15,000ft to another at 12,000ft — a drop that should have helped the climbers’ bodies acclimatise to the altitude and grant a better night’s sleep in preparation for the push to the summit. But for Miss Navratilova, there was no respite, and her condition continued to deteriorate.
During the walk, she slowly dropped back through the group. That evening before dinner, when the expedition doctor conducted pulse oximeter tests to determine each climber’s blood oxygen level, all of the group rated above 85 per cent, except for one: Miss Navratilova’s level was at 68 per cent. Recalling how she felt at that meal time, she said she found it almost impossible to eat.
“I would put stuff in my mouth and it would taste good, but I just couldn’t swallow because my mouth was so dry. That was when I started crying.” Around 10pm, she was taken to her tent as speculation began among the group that she might not reach the summit.
“I had written in my journal that afternoon that [reaching the summit] wasn’t going to happen. I know my body and I knew something wasn’t right. When the team doctor told me I needed to go down, I said: 'I know, there’s no way I can make it.’ ”
Dr Claire Milligan, the expedition doctor, said: “When I told Martina she needed to go down, she was bitterly disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to carry on, but she accepted the situation valiantly and was incredibly strong.” Miss Navratilova then endured what she describes as “a long ride — four and half hours staring at the sky” — a treacherous, rocky descent as six porters carried her down on a specially adapted stretcher to the nearest mountain track.
Attached to an oxygen machine, wrapped in her sleeping bag for warmth and strapped in using boat rope, the descent was far from easy.
According to Dr Milligan, “it was the middle of the night, and the going was very rocky, wet and slippery. The porters and guides carrying the stretcher had a tough job, but they did a heroic job.
“Sometimes Martina had to be carried over large drops. It must have been frightening for her, and uncomfortable, but if she was scared I didn’t see it. Once we had descended the first 1,000 metres (3,281ft), she was even encouraging the porters.”
Miss Navratilova considers herself lucky to have made it down the mountain. “They never dropped me,” she says. “It was close a couple of times, but those guys carrying me were brilliant.”
From the stretcher, she was driven by ambulance to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre before being transferred by plane to Nairobi for treatment.
She was confirmed as having fluid on the lungs, caused by a high altitude pulmonary oedema. The evacuation had saved her life. Safely back in the dense sea-level air, and on a course of diuretics to drain the fluid, her recovery was assured.
Looking back, she is philosophical about what happened. “I think if I hadn’t got sick to begin with, I might have been OK. I gave it everything I had every day, and it wasn’t good enough at this time. I turned around but have lived to tell the tale. I’m just glad that I survived it,” she said.
Miss Navratilova will not be attempting to climb Kilimanjaro again any time soon, after her doctors advised against it. But her dramatic rescue failed to deter her from her main objective: to raise funds for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
“I don’t know if we would have raised more money had I made it to the top,” she said. “If anything, I’ll get more publicity for not making it. Either way, we reached our fund-raising goal.”
The Telegraph
“I knew this was going to be a very difficult week, but it turned out to be the week from hell,” she explains. “What was so hard was that usually I’m the one cheering everybody on, but here I was, needing all the help because I wasn’t well.” Miss Navratilova had hoped the stomach pain would pass, allowing her to regain her strength as the climb became more challenging.
Instead, it paved the way for worse symptoms as her body, already weakened by being unable to rehydrate and take on sufficient amounts of food, succumbed to the greater altitude and thinning air. To make matters worse, it rained heavily every day, so the climbers were trekking in permanently wet clothing.
On the fourth day the team descended from its camp at 15,000ft to another at 12,000ft — a drop that should have helped the climbers’ bodies acclimatise to the altitude and grant a better night’s sleep in preparation for the push to the summit. But for Miss Navratilova, there was no respite, and her condition continued to deteriorate.
During the walk, she slowly dropped back through the group. That evening before dinner, when the expedition doctor conducted pulse oximeter tests to determine each climber’s blood oxygen level, all of the group rated above 85 per cent, except for one: Miss Navratilova’s level was at 68 per cent. Recalling how she felt at that meal time, she said she found it almost impossible to eat.
“I would put stuff in my mouth and it would taste good, but I just couldn’t swallow because my mouth was so dry. That was when I started crying.” Around 10pm, she was taken to her tent as speculation began among the group that she might not reach the summit.
“I had written in my journal that afternoon that [reaching the summit] wasn’t going to happen. I know my body and I knew something wasn’t right. When the team doctor told me I needed to go down, I said: 'I know, there’s no way I can make it.’ ”
Dr Claire Milligan, the expedition doctor, said: “When I told Martina she needed to go down, she was bitterly disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to carry on, but she accepted the situation valiantly and was incredibly strong.” Miss Navratilova then endured what she describes as “a long ride — four and half hours staring at the sky” — a treacherous, rocky descent as six porters carried her down on a specially adapted stretcher to the nearest mountain track.
Attached to an oxygen machine, wrapped in her sleeping bag for warmth and strapped in using boat rope, the descent was far from easy.
According to Dr Milligan, “it was the middle of the night, and the going was very rocky, wet and slippery. The porters and guides carrying the stretcher had a tough job, but they did a heroic job.
“Sometimes Martina had to be carried over large drops. It must have been frightening for her, and uncomfortable, but if she was scared I didn’t see it. Once we had descended the first 1,000 metres (3,281ft), she was even encouraging the porters.”
Miss Navratilova considers herself lucky to have made it down the mountain. “They never dropped me,” she says. “It was close a couple of times, but those guys carrying me were brilliant.”
From the stretcher, she was driven by ambulance to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre before being transferred by plane to Nairobi for treatment.
She was confirmed as having fluid on the lungs, caused by a high altitude pulmonary oedema. The evacuation had saved her life. Safely back in the dense sea-level air, and on a course of diuretics to drain the fluid, her recovery was assured.
Looking back, she is philosophical about what happened. “I think if I hadn’t got sick to begin with, I might have been OK. I gave it everything I had every day, and it wasn’t good enough at this time. I turned around but have lived to tell the tale. I’m just glad that I survived it,” she said.
Miss Navratilova will not be attempting to climb Kilimanjaro again any time soon, after her doctors advised against it. But her dramatic rescue failed to deter her from her main objective: to raise funds for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
“I don’t know if we would have raised more money had I made it to the top,” she said. “If anything, I’ll get more publicity for not making it. Either way, we reached our fund-raising goal.”
The Telegraph
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