"I watch patients face the challenges of coping with heart disease, facing their mortality – I see courage, hope and strength in their eyes. As a physician I am continually amazed by the inner strength of my patients. I am overwhelmed by the experience. It’s really what’s driven me to push myself to new heights and reflect on how precious life truly is."
HELP US PREVENT HEART DISEASE AND SAVE LIVES!
Your donation will help Dr. Heather Ross and her team test their limits and raise funds in support of heart disease and heart failure research. 100% of your support will go directly towards making research in heart failure and transplantation possible.
Visit the 2017 Test Your Limits trip blog to read more about the adventures of Dr. Ross and the team as they embark on an epic 25-day cycling trip in the Tibetan plateaus en route to the base camp of Mount Everest.
About TYL
Meet the Team
Heart Disease & Heart Failure
PAST TREKS
2015 Nahanni
2014 Bhutan
2013 South Pole
2010 North Pole
2008 Nepal
2006 Antarctica
Your life is worth one hour a day
Every single donation makes a difference
Dr Heather Ross and her near death experience
Offering lessons in cardiac care and exploration
IN THE MEDIA
Read more about Dr. Heather Ross and Test Your Limits in the news.
Offering lessons in cardiac care and exploration on International Day of Women and Girls in Science » read more
Helping hearts: How a cardiac transplant doctor got a new lease on life — from one of her own patients » read more
World renowned Toronto cardiologist hopes her near-death experience made her a better doctor » read more
Dr. Heather Ross discusses the details of her upcoming Test Your Limits expedition with Yahoo! Canada » read more
Physician’s heart-healthy prescription: Exercise addiction » read more
One Hour a Day Will Keep The Doctor Away » read more
Doctor hikes to raise awareness about heart health » read more
Should you have any questions regarding your donation, please contact:
Ashley Gilbert, Principal Gift Manager
Peter Munk Cardiac Centre Campaign
416 340-4056 | ashley.gilbert@uhn.ca.
ABOUT TEST YOUR LIMITS
Test Your Limits is an initiative Dr. Heather Ross started in 2006 to raise awareness and support for heart failure research, cardiac transplantation and heart health. Accompanied by doctors and transplant patients, the team has climbed in Nepal, trekked in Bhutan and skied to the North and South Poles. And through it all, thanks to generous people like you, Test Your Limits has raised over $2 million.
Dr. Ross believes that the inspiration from their expeditions is all from Dale Shippam. If a heart transplant recipient can complete the intense training and conquer these grueling treks to climb mountains and reach the Poles after surviving advanced stage heart failure, then anyone can do it.
Dr. Ross’ mission and belief is simple: transplant is an amazing thing but there will never be enough hearts, neither mechanical or donated. We need to move upstream to where the issues start and get people moving, get active and live a healthy life.
MEET THE TEAM
Dale Shippam
Dale Shippam is a firefighter and resident of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Dale knows first hand how important it is to test your limits and live your best life after receiving a heart transplant in February 1999. Dale has conquered every expedition the Test Your Limit Team has taken on. Dale has hope of finishing a major trek on every continent.
Dave Smith
After receiving a kidney transplant from my brother Barry in 1997, I have had the opportunity to compete in multiple national and world transplant games as well as four mountain expeditions around the world. This upcoming expedition to the Himalayas is another wonderful platform to promote organ and tissue donation while showcasing the potential of post-transplant health and ability.
Perry Ross
Perry Ross is a Fire Marshal at the Toronto General Hospital. Between working in the hospital and watching his grandfather go through a quadruple bypass in 2006, Perry has seen firsthand the importance of keeping your heart healthy. He hopes that the Test Your Limits trips inspire others old and young to get out and exercise to achieve their goals and dreams. This is Perry’s second trip with the Test Your Limits team; his first was to the Nahanni in 2015. As Perry says, "It’s so easy to sign your card to be a potential organ donor, you could save someone’s life…so why wouldn’t you do it!"
Mike Walker
Mike Walker, a lifelong athlete and exercise enthusiast, has what he calls a dream job. He’s an Exercise Physiologist in the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and has been helping UHN heart patients reach their fitness goals since 1993. Mike describes it as an honour to work with a dedicated team of healthcare professionals in the Heart Failure Clinic at TGH.
Farid Foroutan
Swimming, biking, and running are my remedies to the stress of daily life. They are my hour or two of self-reflection and meditation. When your education and research surrounds you with case after case of heart failure, you can't take your cardiovascular system (what enables me to run, bike, or swim) for granted. There are many patients, not much older or younger, who have lost this capacity and are in need of advanced therapies. This trip is a means of advocating for them, for maintaining a healthy life, and for providing the gift of life. This is my first trip with the Test Your Limits team, although I'm certainly no stranger to its potential for inspiring.
Heather Ross
Dr. Heather Ross is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and Director of the Cardiac Transplant Program at TGH and is the Head of the MSH/UHN Heart Failure Program. She is also the Ted Rogers and Family Chair in Heart Function. Dr. Ross is inspired everyday by her patients and has taken on the mission to raise awareness and support for advanced heart failure and transplant research through her Test Your Limits initiatives.
HEART DISEASE & HEART FAILURE: The Toll
Heart disease includes all the diseases of the heart and circulation.
9 in 10
Canadians over the age of 20 have at least one risk factor for heart disease.
Heart disease claims more lives than all forms of cancer combined.
Over 75%
of the world’s deaths from heart disease occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Heart failure is a type of heart disease that occurs when the heart is not able to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body. With healthy lifestyle changes and new treatment options, patients can manage their condition very well.
1 million
Canadians are living with heart failure.
50,000
new cases of heart failure will be diagnosed in Canada this year.
Heart failure is the most rapidly rising heart disease among Canadians.
Nahanni River, Northwest Territories - 2015
The Test Your Limits team tested their personal limits paddling through more than 300 kilometres of whitewater rapids on the Nahanni River in the Northwest Territories. A big river with powerful currents, boils and challenging whitewater, the Nahanni is an iconic world-renowned river.
The Test Your Limits team travelled to Bhutan in South Asia in September 2014 to conquer one of the world’s most challenging trails, the Snowman trek. The trek involved travelling to the Eastern Himalayas, adapting to the culture, weather, terrain and punishing elements en route to climbing mountain passes with ranges of more than 17,000 feet, some 5,000 metres above sea level.
In January 2013 the Test Your Limits team battled –60º Celsius temperatures en route to the South Pole. The group members endured grueling conditions to pull their sleds over the ice containing their food, their tents and other equipment.
In what is believed to be a world-first, a heart transplant patient along with his transplant doctor skied over 150 kilometres, over ice, snow drifts, across open water, through gale-force winds and freezing temperatures to make it to the North Pole in April 2010. Along with three other adventurous team members, it took 11 days to reach the northernmost point of the globe.
In 2008, the Test Your Limits team headed to Nepal to climb the 6,200-metre-high Mera Peak. Mera Peak is the highest trekking peak in Nepal. It is situated on the edge of the famous Khumbu Region, in close proximity to Mount Everest.
Dr. Heather Ross put her passion into practice in 2006, when she and a small team - including one of her heart patients - set a goal, trained for months, then followed through by trekking to Vinson Massif, Antarctica's highest peak.
