A former army soldier with barely one functioning lung is
planning to climb the world's tallest free-standing
mountain, Mt Kilimanjaro.
Adam Faatz, a 36-year-old
American man, was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary
fibrosis (IPF) in 2018 and hopes to scale African mountain
in January to raise money for charity and awareness of this
rare respiratory disease.
IPF is a condition that
causes scarring (fibrosis) of the lungs which, in turn,
makes it difficult to breathe. It affects roughly 5 in every
10,000 people, however it is not known exactly how many
people are currently living with the condition.
Faatz
says there is no cure for IPF, and life expectancy, for
most, is about five years.
"I know I’m in the 1%
that have already outlived that prognosis, so why not spend
whatever time I have left to raise money for the charities
who are trying to help."
The Asthma and Respiratory
Foundation NZ are among the charities Adam is helping to
raise funds to support.
Foundation Chief Executive Ms
Letitia Harding says Adam’s determination to raise
awareness of a disease we still don’t know a lot about is
courageous and inspiring.
"Conquering Mt Kilimanjaro
is no small feat and symbolises an uphill struggle against
respiratory diseases.
"He is breathing life into our
mission and spreading hope to those with
IPF."
Faatz’s disease was discovered by accident
when the damage had already been done.
It is believed
to be a result of the burn pits used in Iraq and
Afghanistan, where he was deployed as a US Army
solider.
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At the time of discovery, in 2018, surgeons
had to remove most of his left lung. The disease has now
spread to his right lung.
"After my diagnosis, I felt
like I didn’t have a purpose," Faatz says.
"It
contributed to my mental health struggles, it drained bank
accounts, caused anxiety and depression, and made me feel
isolated. I felt numb.
"I know what it’s like to
suffer, but I also know that you can overcome it," he
says.
"I just needed help, and now I want to help
others."
To come to terms with his diagnosis, Faatz
turned to the outdoors and became the first person with IPF
to climb New York’s Mt Marcy.
Mt Kilimanjaro,
standing at about 20,000 feet, is his next challenge. It
will take nine days.
If successful, Faatz will be the
first person in the world with IPF to complete this - and
the first person to climb it with less than one working
lung.
"This has been a long and challenging journey,
but I wanted to prove that those living with pulmonary
fibrosis can still be resilient even when living with a
debilitating illness," he says.
"At this moment, I
want to seek adventure and thrills for as long as I can and
I'm doing it for all of us in the IPF
community."
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