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'She was there with me and Spencer...'

Blind Burnaby man remembers his wife's inspiring words as altitude sickness ends his Kilimanjaro summit attempt

When a surgery to save his sight about 30 years ago failed, Burnaby resident Bill Der went into an emotional tailspin.

His wife Lana, however, was there for him, encouraging him to keep going, keep moving forward.

Der, who is now legally blind because of glaucoma, remembered those times last month as he lay on a bed three-quarters of the way up Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, his lungs gurgling with fluid because of altitude sickness.

The Burnaby resident had set out to honour his wife, who died unexpectedly of stomach cancer last year, by climbing to the top of the African peak with their son Spencer and remembering her at the top.

Five days into the eight-day trek and more than 15,000 feet up the 19,341-foot mountain, Der had to call off his climb while Spencer pressed on toward the summit carrying a special staff carved with names of all three family members.

“When I was lying there not able to breathe properly, she (Lana) came to mind as encouraging me to keep on tackling challenges in life. That became crystal clear,” Der told the NOW. “She was there with me and Spencer at that moment.”

Before being hit by altitude sickness, which can lay any climber low regardless of fitness level, Der had been surprised at how manageable the climb was.

“I had actually expected it to be a fairly difficult, steep climb, but it wasn’t,” he said.

Dramatic changes in terrain, from lush rain forest to bush country to the lunar landscape of a flat section called “the Saddle” was the best part of the trip for Der.

“I couldn’t see the view, but people were describing it all to me,” he said.

For Der, the changes in terrain were marked by changes in temperature and the difference between the sound of the breeze and rain on the forest leaves and the steady cold wind blowing across the Saddle the day he forgot his gloves.

The worst part was having to call off his ascent – but Der has no regrets.

“It pushed my endurance to the limit, physically, mentally and spiritually,” he said. “That causes one to think what is really important in life. It helped me to crystallize some things: when I’m faced with limitations I can’t overcome, that I do need help from others. A lot of us, we think we are islands unto ourselves, but the fact is, we all need each other to help at different points in life.”

The climb also raised $15,000 each for the Down Syndrome Research Foundation and the Alzheimer Society of B.C. – and Spencer did reach the summit after all.

“It was hard for us to split up,” Der said. “I had hoped both of us would summit, but it was good in the sense that as a family he carried on the challenge.”

Spencer jumped for joy at the top of Kilimanjaro despite suffering his own altitude sickness symptoms by the end of the climb, according to Der.

Is another run up the mountain in Der’s future?

“I wouldn’t rule it out as a repeat,” he said. “It is a possibility because others have tried and failed and have gone back and done it. In fact, I met people who’ve gone up four or five times and have failed four or five times.”