His sporting records and medical skills help sick people surpass their limits by accomplishing feats.
On February 16, Vanessa Morales, ultra-trail runner and nurse in Muret (Haute-Garonne), will fly to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro (5895m) in the company of Olivier, 60, suffering from incurable cancer and Arthur, his son.
Record holder of this climb since 2021, the 40-year-old sportswoman has already previously accompanied two people suffering from multiple sclerosis and another from a brain tumor in this same challenge.
His eighth expedition
“Olivier, who lives in Bouches-du-Rhône, contacted me after seeing the documentary
XV for a summit
on an expedition carried out two years ago to Kilimanjaro with former rugby players,” says Vanessa Morales.
He explained to me that he was in palliative care following incurable cancer and wanted to quickly climb Kilimanjaro with his son.
I called his oncologist who told me that we should not delay doing it, that his condition did not require any particular medical treatment so we prepared the project in two months.
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Specializing in the paramedicalization of extreme expeditions, the trail nurse carries in her luggage a kit with therapies adapted to high altitude in order to deal with any problem.
To prepare for the challenge, Oliver, who has always been sporty, runs around ten kilometers a day and works with a physiotherapist.
Also read: From Reims to the ascent of Kilimanjaro: the incredible challenge of Lise, a one-legged high school student
If this is La Muretaine's eighth expedition to Kilimanjaro, this new project is not a long-distance race for her and allows her to share an exceptional moment with patients.
“For them, it’s a new lease of life, it detaches them from their illness,” she assures.
There is no notion of competition, just experiencing emotions as an athlete at the top of a mountain.
Their fight makes me put failures or efforts in the race into perspective.
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Injured in September, Vanessa Morales had to postpone the challenge she was due to complete in February, namely to climb Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest peak in the Andes mountain range.
The expedition with Olivier will allow her to continue her training at high altitude in preparation for this challenge that she hopes to take on in 2025.