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Four years ago, Caroline Leon suffered from a fatal fall in Dubai whilst training on an outdoor rock wall that was over seven metres high.
The fall resulted in quite a few life-threatening breaks and two years of healing and rehabilitation. Apparently, doctors said the damage was so severe; she was unlikely to ever walk again.
“In Australia, we are all very outdoorsy and we grow up learning to climb cliffs and such. I have been climbing cliffs in my hometown all my life. Unfortunately, again when you grow up in Australia, you have this belief that you are unbreakable which leads you to not think of safety precautions. Hence, I wasn’t harnessed.”
She was confined to a wheelchair for six months as well as underwent 14 surgeries and 23 blood transfusions. She shattered the metatarsal, calcaneum and talus bones in both her feet and the right side of her pelvis. Her pubic bone snapped off and a segment of her spine exploded and had to be artificially replaced.
That forced her to undergo a bone graft from her pelvis bone to her spine and three of her vertebras are now fused together with surgical rods.
She said: “I have a reconstructed pelvis that was reattached, my pubic bone was reattached too and both my feet were reconstructed. I also have a partially artificial segment in my spine.”
Despite the trauma, Caroline carried on, pushing herself to recover and walk again. After the accident, she has climbed the 5,900m summit of Kilimanjaro in Africa and dominated Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia, which stands at 2,300m.
Since Caroline ventured out on her 15-mountain adventure, she has climbed Mount Ararat in Turkey, Mount Damavand in Iran, Mount Lebanon in Lebanon, Mount Hermonn in Syria, Jabal Umm ad Dami in Jordan’s Wadi Rum, Saint Catherine in Egypt, Jabal Sawda in Saudi Arabia, Multa Ridge in Kuwait, Jebel Jais in UAE and Jebel Shams in Oman.
Mount Ararat is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey consisting of two major volcanic cones: Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian plateau with an elevation of 5,137m. However, Iran’s mountain was her tallest summit in the Middle East at 5,600m.
Apparently, the DHL team climbed the mountain in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE with her, which she loved. The rest, she conquered on her own.
“Kuwait was the first mountain that I wasn’t completely alone,” said Caroline who graduated with a bachelor in medical science, majoring in anatomy and physiology, a post graduate certificate in international health as well as a dissertation in maternal and child mortality in the developing world.
“I found some of the mountains difficult but I didn’t have any massive struggles. I was sore and my feet hurt and some days were really long. I was really tired and didn’t sleep a lot of the time. That being said though, I was really happy because the whole expedition made me feel alive.
“It was beautiful and although it was strenuous it was really rewarding.”
Some summits, such as the one in Turkey, took her five days to complete and others, such as Bahrain would have taken her an hour or two had she finished it.
“There were some mountains, such as the one in Bahrain and Iraq, which I was unable to complete due to security issues. I am planning on doing them again though, just trying to find the appropriate time.
“I believe that whatever goal you have, you have to pursue it and really not give up. Don’t give up on yourself. I didn’t.”
DHL Express’s chief executive officer in the Middle East and North Africa, Nour Suliman, found Caroline to be an inspiring woman with tremendous dedication and passion, representing their company core values with a never-say-die attitude in the face of adversity.
Nour said: “We were delighted to support Caroline on this adventure – she has incredible grit and passion and is continuously looking to conquer new frontiers.”
