Eric Hampel was recently featured in the Fort Erie Observer, which published an article about his upcoming attempt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and funds for PKD.

Eric Hampel, originally from the Fort Erie area, was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) at 18. This wasn't a complete shock, since his mother, Barb Hampel, and aunt, Carolyn Nagel, also have the disease, but it was still hard for him to accept.

For a while, during his university years, he tried to ignore his condition. However, seeing how the disease was affecting his family he knew he had to face it and take action.

One of Eric’s long-time dreams has been to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. Motivated by other climbers' stories, he decided to tackle the mountain to help increase awareness and support for PKD. He's planning his summit attempt this October, and will share updates on his preparation and climb at endpkd.ca/peaksblog.

Read the entire article here, page 15

Eric's mother, Barb, and his Aunt Carolyn Nagel were also recently in the Fort Erie Observer, when they shared their heartwarming kidney transplant stories. (Both women have received kidney transplants in the past year.)

While one sister celebrates a first anniversary, the other sister celebrates the life-saving gesture of a lifelong friend.

Two weeks ago, I sat around the kitchen on a Friday evening, talking kidney transplants with Barb Hampel, Carolyn Nagel and Sue Ward.

It was more of an emotionally charged discussion than an interview as I was able to relate and contribute; my son, Aaron, and I just celebrated our fifth anniversary. On February 13, 2019, I donated a kidney to him. Barb, Carolyn and Sue liked hearing my success story. We are both doing well.

As they verbally compared incisions and paces of recovery, the three were in high spirits, proud. “These are our battle scars.” The battle has been against PKD.

Read the entire article here

More

The Hampel / Nagel family has been longtime supporters of the PKD Foundation of Canada through fundraising for the Walk to END PKD. Read about their unbelievable yard sale in 2023 that raised more than $8,000 for PKD research and patient supports!

• Follow Eric's Kilimanjaro climb day by day from October 8 to October 17, 2024
• Browse our Peaks for PKD blog to read more about Eric's journey to Kilimanjaro
• How hard is it to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, anyhow?
• Learn more about polycystic kidney disease from our blog, "33 Things To Know About PKD"
• Support Eric's fundraiser for PKD research and patient supports