Family and friends of Krystal Boyea broke into tears when she returned to Barbados yesterday after scaling the 19 341 feet of Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, to promote international interest in Type 1 diabetes.
The 25-year-old, who was diagnosed with the condition at age ten, was welcomed home by a large group of family members and friends, including mum and dad, Cally and Susan Boyea, younger sister Kayla and Folyann Taitt, marketing officer of main sponsors Sagicor Life Inc.
The supportive hugs and presentations of flowers and balloons added to the emotion of the welcome. Boyea said that the pressure of the expectations of her many sponsors as well as her desire to achieve something that only one per cent of the world would ever accomplish saw her crying over the last three days.
“I was overwrought with emotions three days into the seven-day trip to reach the summit as from the time I got above the clouds I marvelled at the beauty of the view,”?she said. “Being able to see the curvature of the earth from the height was awesome.
“I cannot remember much about reaching the top as at that time my blood sugar was dropping and rising and I was struggling with altitude problems where I had to be literally carried by two members of the 14-person team. But I recall that when I reached the top I fell on my knees and cried.”
