Self-proclaimed ‘Colostomummy’ Jo Prance is preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for women with childbirth injuries – just months after a major pelvic operation.
The 50-year-old Surrey-based personal trainer, who is recovering from surgery she underwent in September, will summit the mountain in June.
Money raised – through the charity Chameleon Buddies – will help build a stoma facility and continence wing at the Gynocare Women’s and Fistula Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.
Prance suffered an obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI) during the birth of her son in 1998 – a tear to the muscles that control bowel function – and now lives with a colostomy bag.
The mum-of-one had scheduled her trip to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for last October but had to postpone after injury-related complications required surgery to remove her rectum, known as a proctectomy.
Prance, who has had over 20 operations following her injury, underwent a colostomy in 2019 – the redirection of the colon to a surgically created opening in the abdomen called a stoma – after years of pain and incontinence.
A MASIC foundation advocate for women with severe childbirth injuries, Prance described receiving her stoma as ‘life-changing’ and has since taken up competitive swimming and acquired a yoga teaching certification.
Just under 3% of women in England sustain a serious tear during childbirth, according to NHS England data.
Donations to Jo Prance’s Mount Kilimanjaro fundraiser can be made here.
Watch Jo’s story here:
Main Image: Jo hiking in the Swiss Alps. Photo taken by her husband Andy.
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