On April
12, 2014, Nazgol Eskandari, the daughter of a TTP patient, embarked on a
journey to Mount Everest Base Camp to help raise lifesaving awareness and funds
for TTP, while also marking the 10th anniversary of her mother’s
passing of TTP.
Below is her
story.
"In 2013, as
I looked ahead to the ten year anniversary of my mother’s untimely death from
TTP, I decided I wanted to do something special to mark the anniversary and to
make a difference in the TTP community. Since my mother’s death, my sister and
I have been actively donating to various causes that were close to my mother’s
heart, in her honor, but this year I decided I wanted to do more, have more
impact and do something big. A friend of mine had previously told me a lot
about Mount Everest Base Camp and I thought that this would be the perfect
journey for me to embark on to commemorate the 10 year anniversary, while
helping to make a difference.
I called my
event Trekking for TTP, with my ultimate goal being to raise as much money as
possible. I set my goal at $5,000.
I wanted to
ensure that the money I raised was put towards helping the TTP community, as
TTP was the reason my mother is no longer with us. I choose two beneficiaries that I would
donate all my fundraising proceeds to - the Answering TTP Foundation and the
University College London.
Since deciding to undertake this journey last year, I have organized two bake sales, a walkathon, a charity brunch and my friends and family took part in the Dubai Colour Run, with all the proceeds going towards the grand total of my Trekkingfor TTP event.
To help achieve my $5,000 goal, I set up a Facebook page detailing what I was about to do and why, a YouCaring page and I sent a personalized email to all my family and friends about TTP, and the Trekking for TTP event. The donations came flooding in.
To ensure that I could maximize my donation from my event to the two Foundations I had chosen, I relied heavily on friends, family and my own bank account to fund my journey. One of my friends kindly offered me most her trekking gear, as she had done the trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp. Any other gear I needed, I purchased myself. The tickets, tour and clothing were either donated to me or paid for by me.
Aside from organizing and executing smaller fundraising events, I continued to maintain a regular exercise regime, eating healthily and getting used to travelling long distances with a backpack.
On the 11th
of April, after much planning and much fundraising, I embarked on my journey.
The wonderful tour company I used very kindly organized for me to reach the Mount
Everest Base Camp on the day of my mother's anniversary - the 20th of April.
The trek
was unlike anything I've ever done. It was truly a unique experience that was both
physically and mentally challenging. When I first began planning for this trip,
I was doing it all for my mother and for the TTP Community, it wasn’t until I
embarked on the trek that I realized that I was doing this for myself too.
I believe
my mother had a hand in guiding me on this trek to remind me that life is
beautiful and that despite her passing, there is still so much that I can
achieve. The trek taught me to be grateful and humble and to help others who
needed my help, both
within the TTP community and beyond.
Unfortunately,
my mother’s experience with TTP did not have a happy ending. I still cannot
believe that ten years have passed since I lost my beautiful mother to this
rare disease. A disease that we had never heard of before and is still
relatively unknown. It has taken me a long time to come to terms with the
passing of my mother, but doing events such as my trek help me keep her memory
alive. Before organizing this event, I was not terribly active within the
TTP community, but I am happy now that I am. I like that I can share my
experience with people who know what it feels like to lose a loved one to TTP and
that I can help make a difference - no matter how small. I hope my story can
inspire others to do more for those affected by TTP and bring the community
together to share their stories."
- Nazgol Eskandari
On behalf of the Foundation and the entire TTP community we would like to thank Nazgol for her dedication that helped to raise over $2,500 to benefit the Answering TTP Foundation.
To learn more about 3rd party events and how to organize your own check out our Organize a Fundraiser Page
On Thursday, May 8th and Friday, May 9th,
2014, our Charitable Programs Director, Taryn, manned the first ever AnsweringTTP Foundation booth at the North York General Emergency Medicine UpdateConference.
