Women to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to bring awareness to HELLP syndrome

A Dallas woman is training to climb the tallest mountain in the world. She’s doing it in honor of her sister.

Kylie Mohr and Tawney Craig have an amazing bond. It’s a bond that was made even stronger last year when Mohr almost died during the birth of her son.

“At my 40-week appointment, the doctor did a routine test and said, ‘You have a little protein in your urine. Let’s go ahead and do a test,’” she said.

Doctor’s decided to induce Mohr since she was at full term. But two days of failed attempts led to a C-section that turned out to be almost deadly.

“I hemorrhaged. When I did, they did the C-section. I lost a lot of blood,” she said. “As soon as the high-risk doctor looked at me, he said that’s HELLP syndrome. But they didn’t realize my kidneys had failed. So they are pumping me with fluids but my kidneys can’t expel any of it.”

Mohr’s son Lincoln had a few complications but was going to be okay. In the meantime, she kept losing blood.

It took days for the doctors to realize her kidneys were failing and so was her heart. She had to undergo emergency dialysis to help her heart and clean her blood, which was a tough process.

“I would sit in a chair for four hours a day, three days a week,” she said.

Three months after her son’s birth, doctors determine Mohr needed a kidney transplant. Her mom was a perfect match.

“I didn’t want it to be my mom. I would have preferred it to be my siblings because they were younger, more time, more resilient. But my mom wouldn’t hear it. She said, ‘I gave you your first two kidneys. I will give you the next one.’ That’s my mom,” Mohr said.

The transplant was a success.

Afterward, Mohr’s sister wanted to find a way to honor her and also warn other women about the dangers of preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome.

Now Craig and the girls’ mother have big plans.

“We are gonna be climbing Kilimanjaro. We will actually be reaching the summit on my mom’s 50th birthday,” Craig said.

She and her mother are avid hikers but neither of them has ever done anything of this magnitude.

Mohr is still healing from the transplant but will be cheering them on, hoping that money they raise will lead to more research on preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome.

She also wants to remind women that not all deliveries go as planned.

“I never would have expected it. I had such a healthy pregnancy. I thought, ‘I’m going to the hospital to have a baby.’ I never would have thought it would change the rest of my life,” Mohr said.

Craig and her mom will be joined by a few other women as they set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro on Feb. 12.

For more information, visit www.pfgive.net/climb-for-hellp.