Chelsea Hudson is a documentary photographer living in Ellicott City , Maryland . A native of Texas , she grew up in a religious home where her earliest dreams of missionary work were supported and fostered . At the age of sixteen she travelled with her parent ’ s permission but not much else to far-flung , poverty-stricken places like Malawi and Timbuktu . Her high school and college years were characterized by humanitarian travel to more than twenty countries .
Her marriage to her college sweetheart brought the joy of three daughters and life abroad in Germany . In this chapter of her life story , her dream to use photography as a way to document philanthropy became a professional passion . Several years ago , Chelsea and her family moved to Maryland , where they settled into the life of a typical suburbanite family with kids . Meanwhile though , Chelsea became very sick .
By the age of just thirty-seven , Hudson suffered so badly from asthma and depression she could barely move from her living room couch . She longed to re-engage with the world through the lens of her former dreams , yet found herself increasingly and insufferably harnessed to poor health , poor habits and a poor outlook on what the rest of her life might look like without the structure and even the excitement her past adventures provided . Alone in her house and in her own head , unable to even walk up her driveway without wheezing , Chelsea turned to activities that helped her get through her day without challenging her asthma : namely books and television .
Chelsea found herself unexpectedly hooked on “ Outlander ", a TV series based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Diana Gabaldon . Poking around the internet for more details about the show ’ s cast and production , Chelsea stumbled across an international charity group founded and organized by lead actor Sam Heughan and his friend , personal trainer John Valbonesi .
My Peak Challenge ( MPC ) is a global movement that encourages people to better themselves physically while raising money to support research to eradicate blood cancer . Heughan is a particular lover of the outdoors and made no secret that his own challenges were to run marathons , climb mountains and earn money for his designated charity ( Bloodwise UK ). “ Learning about this community that is scattered across the globe yet that has a common bond and a common purpose was my bizarre yet life-changing watershed moment ,” Chelsea recalls . “ I am not a fan girl , but this program hit a nerve in me , and made me want to change my lifestyle so that I could be a better mom , a better wife and a better journalist ."
Many Peakers , as participants refer to themselves , have debilitating hardships they commit to overcome , lifechanging resolutions they aspire to realize , or the simple desire to learn a new sport or skill while promoting a charitable effort . Peakers describe the MPC program as remarkably supportive and inspirational . As she watched Mr . Heughan ’ s videos about MPC , Chelsea says that she
decided then and there that she was going to get off her couch and out the door . “ I decided I want to climb mountains , I want to overcome my illness , and I want to Peak . I wanted to be a Peaker . I told myself that I would do whatever work was needed to make that happen .” Putting aside her fears that she would never be able to walk far , let alone run , and that her previous habit of starting but never finishing diet and fitness projects would prevent her success , Chelsea nevertheless decided to start by taking just one step at a time .
Just as Chelsea discovered MPC and a newly awakened urge to regain her health , her friend Belinda Bauman began organizing a climb up Mt . Kilimanjaro , a project that would raise money and awareness on behalf of her nonprofit charity , One Million Thumbprints ( 1MT ). The particular goal of 1MT is to fund grassroots programs in Rwanda , the Congo , Sudan and Syria that aid women impacted by the violence of war .
We ended Day 4 at base camp , 17,000 ft elevation . At this point we were feeling the oxygen deprivation and some of us had significant altitude sickness . You actually hike overnight to reach the summit at dawn . You only see the boots of the person in front of you and I was falling asleep on my poles , awake only because I was scared to death of falling off the escarpment .
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GREENBOOK | SPRING 2017