Tania Morkel standing on top of Table Mountain on the 40th hike up the mountain as part of her fundraising efforts.
Image: Image supplied
Tania Morkel, 65, from Rondebosch has been doing multiple hikes up Table Mountain to raise money for the Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) that saved her life after she fell while hiking Table Mountain 18 months ago.
Ms Morkel has been running a fundraising campaign since the end of March called 64x64 Table Mountain Ascents in 64 Days to Champion WSAR & TMNP where she ascends Table Mountain 64 times to raise funds.
“As I slowly regained my strength over the following months, I felt a deep desire to give back to WSAR, the team that was instrumental in saving my life in the initial stages,” she says.
Ms Morkel says the team of WSAR consist mostly of volunteers who do rescues outside their busy work schedules, in very tough conditions and pay for their own uniforms and equipment.
She is also raising funds for TMNP, which she hopes would enhance footpaths and signage to inform hikers of potential dangers.
In September 2023, Ms Morkel and her niece, Sita Poole, were hiking up Table Mountain, taking part in the 13 Peaks challenge, when on the contour path towards Platteklip Gorge, the ground collapsed and she fell 18 meters down a ravine.
While her niece called for help, an Austrian nurse who was hiking nearby, rushed to help her. The WSAR team arrived first. They stabilised her and called Air Mercy Services to evacuate her by helicopter.
Ms Morkel, who is a conservationist by profession, sustained multiple injuries, which included a fractured skull, a brain haemorrhage, vertebrae fractures, all left ribs broken, a punctured lung, her back pushed into scoliosis on impact, her spleen and kidney lacerated and a damaged liver.
She managed to make a full recovery and was able to resume hiking up Table Mountain four months after her accident. While doing the fundraising challenge, she revisited an area close to where she fell.
“With the help of my trauma counsellor, I was able to work through it and could continue with new insight and peace of mind. I've loved almost every moment on the mountain, even though I have faced some external setbacks and exhaustion at times,” she says.
A WSAR representative was unavailable for comment, though in a statement shared on the WSAR Facebook page, the organisation described Ms Morkel’s efforts as "herculean" after she made a massive recovery. The WSAR congratulated Ms Morkel on her climbs and thanked her for her generosity and support.
So far, Ms Morkel has managed to ascend Table Mountain 48 times, getting closer to the goal of 64, and she managed to raise over R74 000 on the Givengain fundraising platform.
If anyone would like to support Ms Morkel's fundraising initiative, you can visit https://www.givengain.com/project/tania-raising-funds-for-2-causes-100269