According to a story from All4Women, Nicole Capper, crowned Mrs. South Africa, is planning to summit Mt. Everest, the highest mountain peak on the planet, in order to help promote awareness for rare diseases.
A career pharmacist, the trip is projected to take eleven days to complete. Nicole will be joined on her trip by Sibusiso Velani, the first indigenous African person to go to the South Pole and the North Pole. He also summited Mt. Everest twice, most recently in 2012. This time, he will be attempting the climb without using oxygen supplementation equipment.
This decision feels symbolic for Nicole because her daughter suffers from cystic fibrosis, a genetically linked condition in which abnormal amounts of thick mucus build up in the lungs. This mucus creates a habitat for bacteria, and people with cystic fibrosis are vulnerable to lung infections. Lung function and breathing ability progressively worsen throughout a patient’s life. People with cystic fibrosis often have to take antibiotics and medications to maintain lung function for most of their lives. A lung transplant may be a last resort as lung function continues to decline. To learn more about cystic fibrosis, click here.
Her daughter was the primary motivation for her decision to enter the Mrs. South Africa contest in 2017. She wanted to be an inspiration for her daughter. Despite the difficulties that she will face throughout her life, Nicole insists that her daughter is more fortunate than most rare disease patients. After all, cystic fibrosis is just one of only five percent of rare diseases that have treatments that have been approved by the FDA. Additionally, nearly fifty percent of people affected by rare diseases are children.
