Salford local woman to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to help raise £1million for leading UK spinal cord injury charity

In 100 day’s time, Salford local woman Caroline Abbott, will be climbing Africa’s highest mountain as part of a charity team initiative to raise £1million for the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA).

The campaign, as documented by BBC Breakfast is called Martin’s Mountain, and follows Manchester Arena bombing survivor Martin Hibbert as he scales Mt. Kilimanjaro in a specially adapted Mountain Trike, having sustained a paralytic spinal cord injury in the 2017 attack.

Now, five years on from the incident, Caroline will be joining Martin and his 11 other team members on a seven-day trip traversing the rocky and rugged path to the summit. With a goal of raising £1million for the charity and helping those who, like Martin, are facing similar life-changing spinal cord injuries.

Caroline was part of a team that helped Martin through his recovery after the attack 5 years ago. Now, his role remains as instrumental as ever, as he will be joining the team in their week-long attempt across the rocky and rugged terrain.

As part of the run-up to the momentous Kilimanjaro challenge, the Martin’s Mountain team is encouraging the public to get involved too, and has launched the #MY19 social media campaign, challenging people to get away from their home desks and get outside in the fresh air for 19 minutes. These 19 minutes represent the 19,000ft of Kilimanjaro and the mountains that those living with spinal cord injuries must face every day.

To show your support for Caroline and Martin and get involved with #MY19 challenge, follow 3 simple steps:
1. PARTICIPATE: Go outside for 19 minutes to enjoy some fresh air or exercise.
2. SHARE: Upload a photo or video of yourself during your personal challenge to social media using the ‘#MY19’ hashtag.
3. NOMINATE & DONATE: Nominate a friend to do their version of the #MY19 Challenge and then donate to Martin’s Mountain via the JustGiving page.

Martin Hibbert said of the challenge: “It’ll be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But climbing Kilimanjaro is only part of the story. My true ambition is to enable every spinal cord injured person to receive the specialist care and support they need to live the life they choose and reach their full potential. I want to start a movement that will create a better and fairer society for disabled people.”

Caroline explains that her involvement in the climb came about as following Martin’s injury, she was involved in his acute physiotherapy rehabilitation on the Major Trauma Ward at Salford Royal. She explains that “Martin had to learn to sit, transfer from bed to chair and use a wheelchair. This is usually a gradual and challenging process, but his motivated personality coupled with sharing large amounts of Giant Haribo Strawberries, saw him quickly overcome the initial challenges. Martin’s progress in his early recovery was amazing; I have no doubt with this same determination he will summit Kilimanjaro.”

Caroline has said, “Martin was my patient and now a friend. Being his physio was an honour so when asked to be part of Martins Mountain team the answer was an immediate yes. I have witnessed the day-to-day challenges of being a wheelchair user…restaurants thinking it’s appropriate that disabled access is through a fire exit, pedal bins being used in a disabled toilet, high street shops having no wheelchair access, broken down lifts in shopping centres and disabled toilets being up a flight of stairs.”

“Martin’s Mountain aim is to raise awareness of these barriers and raise money to ensure that other people have the same access and support to achieve a fulfilled life. Martin you are an inspiration. Let’s do this!”