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Two UH Caregivers Fly Seidman Cancer Center Flag When They Reach Mount Kilimanjaro’s Summit
Like the patients they treat, Shubham Gupta, MD, and Kara Richey, CNP, of Rocky River, know a few things about resiliency and purpose. And with that determination, this couple climbed the highest single freestanding mountain in the world in February.
The newlyweds flew the flag of University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center when they reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.
“This effort took teamwork, recognition of our own limits and having the resolve to push past them,” says Dr. Gupta, Division Chief, Reconstructive Urology, UH Cleveland Medical Center and Director of the Urology Institute’s Surgical Gender Affirmation Program. “The elation and triumph when you reach the top, it’s almost like a spiritual experience. We go back to our lives with renewed vigor.”
Dr. Gupta married Kara Richey, a nurse practitioner who works with genitourinary cancer patients, in the fall. She worked for another hospital system, but he also recruited her to join the UH family.
The couple together have scaled mountains all over the United States, from Oregon to Appalachia, as well as in Ecuador and St. Kitts. The avid hikers set their sights on this mountain in Tanzania because it’s not only one of the world’s highest, but it is less technical, in that climbers can adjust to the heights more gradually without the supplemental oxygen or the special mountaineering equipment required to scale Mount Everest.
“It was easily the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but absolutely the coolest,” says Kara, who works with Drs. Jorge Garcia, Prateek Mendiratta and Jason Brown to treat patients for cancers of the kidney, bladder and prostate.
Always cognizant of the team behind them, this couple who chose to recognize UH Seidman after accomplishing one of the most challenging efforts of their lives also noted the team that helped them reach the summit: eight climbers with 30 support staff, all working toward one goal.
“It was a beautiful symphony,” Dr. Gupta said.
