- An unfortunate horse riding accident left Chris Kerr, 59, from Geraldton, WA, a paraplegic.
- Taking on the world one country at a time, Chris hasn’t let her disability get in the way of her dreams.
- Last July, Chris embarked on her greatest adventure yet – summiting Mount Kilimanjaro!
Here Chris tells her story in her own words.
Peering through binoculars, I was in awe at the scene in front of me.
A large leopard was cleaning itself as it hung lazily in a tree. How incredible, I marvelled.
It was July 2023, and I’d spent the last four days on a wildlife safari in Tanzania, Africa, with my husband, Zane, then 58, and friends Kelly and Sam.
A seasoned traveller, I knew how lucky I was to be seeing this part of the world with my own eyes, let alone as a wheelchair user.
I’d had a wheelchair since a horse riding accident at 15.
While riding through the bush, the horse I was on stumbled.
It landed on top of me, and my spine was crushed, making me a paraplegic.
Why me? I thought, fearful for my future.
I often wondered whether I’d ever be able to travel.
That was until I met Zane in 1990 when I was 25, at the pub.
We bonded over a love of comedy and, soon inseparable, we decided to take on the world.
Over the years we’ve seen and done some incredible things, including snorkelling in the Abrolhos Islands, meeting llamas in Peru, doing adaptive mountain biking and completing triathlons.
‘This is incredible.’
With each country we went to came a different level of disability access, and at times, Zane would have to piggyback me upstairs, or I’d crawl across floors when my wheelchair wouldn’t fit through narrow doorways.
Those experiences motivated me to work for the non-profit charity Access to Leisure and Sports (ATLAS), in the hope of increasing access and inclusion for people with disabilities.
My current role as an operations manager involves advocating and creating opportunities for improved accessibility in the community.
As part of my job, I got to trial an all-terrain trekking chair made by Paratrek in Israel.
With three leisure buddies, who provide support to individuals living with disabilities in a chosen activity, we set out to the Kalbarri gorges, WA, to see what was possible.
As they helped navigate the chair down into the gorge and back again, I was surprised how accessible the chair made the rough terrain for me.
‘This is incredible,’ I beamed, thinking of all the opportunities it could unlock.
‘I’m not a mountain climber. I hate the cold. What have I got myself into?‘
Afterwards, I shared my feedback with the chair’s creator.
He was working with a company called Popote Africa, who operate expeditions to Mount Kilimanjaro.
They were open to trying the innovative chairs to make the climb accessible to people who use wheelchairs, and offered me and Zane the opportunity to join an expedition.
I was gobsmacked.
I’d never thought about mountain climbing, so we jumped at the chance.
But as I began planning for the adventure and the challenges I’d face along the way, I started to panic.
I’m not a mountain climber. I hate the cold. What have I got myself into? I worried.
To get up and down the mountain, I’d have to rely on the muscle of guides and porters to carry me 82kms up the steep Marangu route.
Feeling overwhelmed by the mammoth trek, I reached out to fellow women with disabilities who’d summitted Kilimanjaro in the past.
‘I couldn’t have done it without you.’
They all agreed the experience was like nothing else. ‘It’s a dream up there,’ one said.
It was all the convincing I needed.
Next I persuaded our friends Kelly and Sam to join us on our adventure of a lifetime.
After our plane touched down in Tanzania in July 2023, we spent the week exploring the incredible national parks before taking on the climb to Kilimanjaro’s Gilman’s Point.
Arriving at the base camp, I was nervous.
While the trekker chair gave me the opportunity to do the climb, I’d have to give up the independence of my everyday wheelchair.
Thankfully, I had a team of six local porters and guides, who’d been trained to push, pull and lift trekker chairs safely.
As we set off, we shared stories and even learned to sing in Swahili to pass the time.
The higher up the mountain we went, the thinner the air became.
And the slope became steeper with every step, as the team found ways to get my chair over protruding boulders and across rivers.
Averaging more than 12kms a day, it took five days to reach the top.
Taking in the view from nearly 6000 metres above sea level, I burst into tears at the incredible feat we’d pulled off.
‘I couldn’t have done it without you!’ I told my team, feeling grateful.
I felt truly on top of the world. After the three days it took to get back down, I felt so invigorated.
Almost two years on, knowing what I achieved, I try to focus on what I can do not what I can’t.
Having climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, I feel unstoppable!
