Campaigns We Love: Everest Again
Two years ago, I started working with an incredible charity: water supporter named Siobhan and her husband, Terry, on an epic fundraising campaign for Nepal.
Siobhan was setting out to climb Mt. Everest and she wanted to change the lives of people in Nepal while doing it.
I worked with the couple for months, and every email they sent inspired me more than the last. All told, they raised more than $107,000 for clean water projects in Nepal. That is a rare and incredible feat. But now, I’ve come to realize, that’s typical for these two.
In April of 2013, Siobhan started her journey to summit Mt. Everest.
She made it to Basecamp and then noticed swelling in her right arm. She saw an on-site doctor, who recommended she head home. The news was heartbreaking. She’d trained for months and flown thousands of miles, only to be told to turn back.
Disappointed, she boarded a plane back to San Francisco. But during her layover in Hong Kong, she changed her mind. She decided to turn around and give it another go.
Siobhan flew back to Kathmandu, trekked back to Everest, and made it to an elevation of about 24,500 feet. Yet so close to her goal, due to High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (which can be deadly), she had to turn back again.
Still, this amazing woman didn’t head home and say, “Well, at least I tried.” Instead, she promised she would go back another year.
Right now, Siobhan is running another clean water campaign. This one is called “Everest Again.”
Yes, Siobhan is back on Mt. Everest. This time, she was prepared. She was ready to crush that mountain, climb her heart out, and stand atop the world. But in 40 seconds last Saturday, everything changed.
On April 25, when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, it shook the world’s highest peak. Siobhan was on Mt. Everest at the time, climbing a ladder at the Khumbu Icefall. Thankfully, she was uninjured and managed to reach Camp 1 along with four other climbers. But the quake triggered avalanches, cutting Basecamp off from the higher parts of the peak.
For two and a half days, Siobhan and her fellow climbers remained stranded.
On Monday, she finally made it back to Basecamp. By Friday, she’d been taken safely to Kathmandu. Soon, she’ll be heading back to the States.
This isn’t a story about standing on top of the world. This is a story about changing the world.
Siobhan might not be summiting Mt. Everest this year, but I know this won’t be the end of her story.
Even through everything that’s happened since the earthquake, Siobhan has raised more than $20,000 for clean water this year.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Siobhan’s husband, Terry, all week. Throughout uncertainty and fear, he’s kept me and the charity: water team in the loop, as we waited anxiously for Siobhan reach safety. It’s something I will forever be grateful for.
No matter what Siobhan’s future holds, here at charity: water, we’ll be watching. Her hard work and dedication has brought clean water to hundred of people. Her fundraising efforts have changed hundreds of lives.
charity: water supporters are incredible.
They’re the reason I get up in the morning and skip to work. They’re the reason I believe that one person has the power to change the world. They make me a better person.
At times, they even put their lives on the line, because they believe the same thing we do: They believe every person on the planet should have clean and safe drinking water, and that the craziest thing we can do to help is nothing.
