THE 27 CLUB

Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and now Amy Winehouse; these are the names of stars who have died at the age of 27 through substance abuse and drug overdoses.

Amy Winehouse was found dead in her flat on Saturday the 23^rd of July 2011 at 4pm. Although autopsy details have not been released, it is suspected that her demise could be attributed to a drug overdose.

According to her friend Russell Brand, “When you love someone who suffers from the disease of addiction you await the phone call,” writes Brand, who battled substance abuse himself.

“There will be a phone call. The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves, telling you they’ve had enough, that they’re ready to stop, ready to try something new.”

“Of course though, you fear the other call, the sad nocturnal chime from a friend or relative telling you it’s too late, she’s gone.”

Firstly, I have a different take on drug addiction; it’s not a disease. Drug addiction is a choice. From the very first hit of a joint to the conscious and deliberate decisions one makes when choosing to abuse any substance. We are human beings, not animals and as such we are given the power of choice and what we do with these choices when it comes to drugs means the difference of demise or recovery.

This is not an isolated incident and too often worried family members do receive that frightening call in the dead of night only to find out that their loved one is dead from an overdose or complications from drugs. Like Amy’s father, Mitch. Images of him distraught at his daughter’s funeral have circulated around the world and lays testimony to how drugs destroy lives. It’s heartbreaking, it’s not natural to lose a child, especially under those circumstances.

The reality is that Amy didn’t want to get better nor did she reach out and seek help. Ironically her well-known hit ‘Rehab’ lays testimony to this, “they tried to make me go to rehab and I said no, no. no”.

You can’t force someone into treatment; they have to want help. There is a small light at the end of the tunnel; her death has prompted greater awareness of the addicts’ plight. The tragic thing about some drug addicts in South Africa is that rehabilitation units are beyond their financial means, a sentence in itself. Whilst Amy could afford to check herself into recovery, many drug addicts who crave recovery and clarity are unable to. That’s why Mountain Heights is committed to raising awareness around drug addiction and is committed to helping as many addicts as we can who are committed to the recovery process.

You can only help someone that is genuine/serious about getting help. I (Marco) tried several times and often used going to rehab as an excuse to ‘get out of trouble’ and pretend I was getting clean. Winehouse did not want to change her life. This being said, I hope her family finds peace in this tragedy and eventually come to terms with the choices she made that lead to her untimely and tragic death.

It's getting colder. We're hotting up!

It’s been a busy few weeks since the 7 Summit Challenge team came back from the land down under. Since our return, we have been plotting and scheming initiatives for South Africa’s kids to make sure they never fall in to the trap of drug abuse. This really is a huge responsibility and something we feel very privileged to be a part of. So keep watching this space for all kinds of awesomeness ensuring future generations of South Africa are informed and given the best possible education when it comes to the perils of drugs.

As promised, we told you we would take you up the mountain with us and we are not the kind crazies to break promises! So our ever-dedicated camera savant, Barry Hamman has put together a little montage of footage of our Mt Kosi summit.

The first thing to note is how Kabs LURVES the bizarre names the Aussies seem to give, well, anything! Seriously, when you try and pronounce half the names of places, it feels as if you are speaking ‘alien’ proper! This kept us very amused for most of the trip.

On a more serious note, the footage sees Kabs telling his story of how he got involved in drugs. And if you pay attention to his account, it’s amazing to see how easy it is to slip into this underbelly of darkness. It’s so important to see that even the most successful and driven people are vulnerable to the dangers of drugs. Through work on himself and a strong core faith, Kabs managed to pull himself out of the gutter and is now reaching mountain heights. What struck me most was when he says how lucky he considers himself to not be HIV positive from he’s experience. This is a very sobering thought. Kabs is now 9 years clean and is using his sobriety to inspire and help others.

Crazy how one morning we were in Joburg and then we were in Australia’s outback not 24 hours later. We were so privileged to be at the top of the mountain for such a worthwhile cause and when we looked at the scenery we were surrounded by and had the good fortune take in, we realised just how lucky we were.

But enough of that, we want you to see the footage for yourself. As you will see, Kosi is not the highest or the most arduous climb in the world; they even have a little walkway to help you on your way but it still qualifies as one of the 7 Summits. The toughest challenge of the trip was the training we did after Kosi in the Blue Mountains. It wasn’t for the faint-hearted but these are the necessary steps we have to take to ensure we reach our dream of eventually climbing Everest

So check it out and you’ll get a taste of where we were, the team camaraderie and the really bizarre Australian names. For like everything!  Happy watching!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS34W3kuTEU&feature=youtu.be