In October 2014, twenty-year-old Jenna Lowe invited the entire nation to her 21st birthday, she captured the hearts and minds of the entire nation and changed the way we see organ donation in South Africa.
Cape Town, South Africa – In her brilliant memoir, Get Me To 21 Gabi Lowe reveals the incredible journey she embarks on to save Jenna, a bright young girl diagnosed with a life-threatening rare disease. This is the untold true story of a mother’s courageous battle to get her daughter to 21.
In this compelling book, Gabi Lowe writes in the introduction, “It’s been three long, excruciating years since you died, Jen. I know I have to tell your story, but it is overwhelming. I am immobilised by the enormity of it and cannot seem to start. Help me, Jen. How can I ever do you justice? How can I find the courage to relive it? But how can I not?”
Indeed, how could she not?
In 2013 Jenna was diagnosed with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. At the time, there was little clinical awareness and medicine available to treat patients in South Africa. Jenna’s complex health issues seemed insurmountable. The need for a bi-lateral lung transplant in a country where only 0.3% of the population are organ donors, intensified. Yet, Gabi’s capacity for sacrifice, hope and the urgency to save her daughter’s life inspired her to achieve what looked like the impossible. Driven by consciousness and compassion, with the help of her seriously ill daughter Jenna, her family and friends, Gabi faced these challenges head-on.
The book reveals how the Lowe family’s tireless campaigning to raise awareness for Pulmonary Hypertension, organ transplantation and rare diseases in South Africa became a fight, not only for Jenna’s needs but for all South Africans. We see how Jenna’s ultimate passion for changing the world for the better, even in sickness, would create a massive social impact in her country. Organ donor registration increased by 238%, through her #GetMeTo21 campaign. Their journey was extraordinary.
In Get Me to 21, the reader discovers that vulnerability is not a weakness; it is the quickest path to courage. This is a book written by an ordinary mother: her challenges, her traumas, her times of weakness and her moments of despair and pain. Gabi’s words laced with humility and wisdom come from having lived and learned. This is the story of Jenna Lowe.
Get Me to 21 is on sale from the 1 August 2019 at all top book retailers around the country including Exclusive Books, Bargain Books and PNA. The book is also available online at www.jennalowe.org from 01 August and on www.amazon.com.
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