A story of one woman’s courage, determination, strength and resilience will come to life in the 90 minute documentary, ‘Get Me To 21- The Jenna Lowe Story’, this Women’s Month.
Lowe became the face driving organ donation in South Africa, after being diagnosed with a rare lung disease, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PH).
Through her search for new, matching lungs, Lowe had South Africans and the international community rallying behind her in what was dubbed the “Get me to 21” campaign.
Although she didn’t survive her battle, she brought enough attention to the disease in 2014, two years ahead of her 21st birthday with the successful campaign.
Described as articulate, brave and beautiful, Lowe touched people across the world, and the campaign achieved international acclaim.
This moving documentary features footage and interviews with many of Lowe’s friends, doctors, and family, including Lowe’s mother Gabi, who chronicled her daughter’s heroic odyssey with this poorly understood and staggeringly cruel medical condition in her best-selling memoir, “Get Me to 21”.
Directed by Diana Lucas, the doccie shares insights on how her family found strength and resilience as they faced every parents worse nightmare.
It was compounded by the fact that the medical practitioners couldn’t diagnose Lowe’s condition, at first, and then had few, if any, treatments to offer.
M-Net’s channel director of Premium Channels, Waldimar Pelser, said he was moved by Lowe’s story and her dedication and to raising awareness for PH and organ donation.
“Her legacy is one of hope and it deserves to reach a wider audience. Jenna captivated social media communities, but this documentary is the way it should be told. We’re delighted to bring this documentary to our viewers and help keep Jenna’s significant mission alive.”
After her death in 2015 at the age of 20, her family started a not-for-profit organisation, the Jenna Lowe Trust, in her memory.
It helped to establish The Jenna Lowe PH Clinic at Groote Schuur, which currently supports around 600 PH patients.
Gabi Lowe said, “Jenna’s advocacy helped to provoke more engagement from the medical community to improve PH care and accessibility to treatments. ‘Get Me to 21 – The Jenna Lowe Story’ builds on her legacy of courage and hope. Jenna’s story lives on and makes a difference to other patients and their families.”
“Get Me To 21” will air on Saturday, August 12 at 8.30pm on M-Net (DStv channel 101) and will be available on DStv Catch Up after broadcast.