Against All Odds

Car accidents, a hijacking, kidney stones, two strokes and a heart blockage - none of it stopped him climbing Africa's highest peak

- By Nasifa Sulaiman

The journey of life comes with many twists and turns and the ability to handle them can test the mettle of the strongest person.

But if you ever need to look to someone for inspiration on how to deal with curveballs, Shaheen Soomar is your man.

The 43-year-old dad from Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape has survived 11 car crashes, a hijacking, nine kidney stones, two strokes, and a heart blockage, yet it hasn't stopped him from living life to the fullest.

And he proved this recently when he summited Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, fulfilling a longstanding dream to climb Africa's highest peak.

He'd planned to climb Mount Everest three years ago but the trip had to be cancelled after he suffered a stroke. So when a group of family and friends invited him to join them in climbing Kilimanjaro in July this year to raise funds for education in rural Tanzania, he jumped at the chance.

Unlike most climbers who tackle the mountain, Shaheen didn't do much in the way of preparation.

"I didn't do any research to see what the climb was going to be like - I just basically went into this thing completely blind," he says. "A part of me felt I wanted to do it, while another part of me felt my medical condition wouldn't allow it."

Three weeks before the group set off for Tanzania, he joined a social hiking club, went on three hikes with them, then went to buy climbing gear.

Shaheen, who owns a cellular company in Gqeberha, initially planned to join the climbing team for only a few days of the eight-day summit, just for the experience of having been on the famous mountain.