A London, Ont., woman won’t be resting for long after completing a 52-kilometre swim across Lake Ontario and raising over $90,000 for organ transplant recipients in the process.
An organ transplant recipient herself, Jillian Best’s fundraising swim was in collaboration with her Move for Life Foundation, a group founded by Best that is dedicated to reducing the wait-list for organ transplants.
A GoFundMe campaign tied to the event had raised more than $92,000 as of Friday morning, with funds intended to support the purchase of new equipment at London Health Sciences Centre for organ transplants.
“I’m already thinking about what I want to do next. I’ve got some really key members on my Move for Life team who want to do something else really big and exciting,” Best told Global News.
“This wasn’t just a one-time thing. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to be doing another bigger marathon swim but we want to keep raising awareness, keep raising funds and making an impact on the transplant community and making it better for those that are on that wait-list and try to save as many lives as possible.”
Best set out for the massive swim on Tuesday in the Niagara region after training for over a year. She completed the swim late Wednesday afternoon when she arrived on dry land to a Toronto shore filled with cheers and tears from her supporters.
“I guess the first thing I thought was, ‘Wow, I’ve done it.’ I’m just so grateful that all of that hard work and time and energy that I put into preparing for this swim had paid off,” Best said following her 52-kilometre swim.
“My body’s recovering really well, my training and then my taper leading into the swim I think was absolutely perfect,” Best said.
“I’m actually feeling a lot better than I had expected.”
Best credits her swimming crew with her success and says the swim was smooth sailing for the most part, thanks to good conditions.
“However, 15 kilometres left to go, I encountered a current going against. My crew was so great, they were experienced and knew not to tell me that I was swimming in place for a few hours,” Best said.
“I could see the CN Tower, I could see that it wasn’t really getting any closer for a long time, so I’d say that the last 15 kilometres was probably the most challenging.
Best was 15 years old when her mother had a liver transplant in 2004. Best was soon diagnosed with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, or HHT.
Her symptoms began to develop in her early 20s. She was put on a transplant waiting list in May 2015 and had her transplant the year after.
The swim, Best said, mirrored part of what she felt during her own organ transplant experience.
“The ups and downs, the long stretch at the end where things are really tough,” Best said.
“In the end, there was success and just a really happy ending.”
The swim also provided other life lessons, Best says, demonstrating how important it is to surround yourself with people who lift you up and support you.
She hopes the story of her swim can help raise awareness of the importance of organ donation and “inspire people to dream big and work hard towards” any personal goal.
“I was at death’s door and now I’m here. With hard work and big dreams, I think almost anything can be accomplished.”
Best will be taking some time to rest but expects to start planning for 2022 “in the next few weeks.”
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