London, Ont. transplant survivor completes Lake Ontario swim
London, Ont. -
A London, Ont. swimmer has crossed Lake Ontario to raise awareness for an important cause, wait times for organ transplants.
Jillian Best arrived in Toronto shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday after starting her swim Tuesday night in the Niagara Region.
The 52-kilometre journey had been expected to take about 18 hours to complete.
She was greeted by a crowd of supporters at Marilyn Bell Park -- Bell being the first person to swim across Lake Ontario.
Best was in tears as she responded to questions after her swim.
"I don't know if it's sunk in yet...that was as hard as it was worth it," she said. "I couldn't have done that alone, I had the best crew with me and they were so great. I don't know what else to say. I'm overwhelmed. "
Her motivation? In 2004, her mother needed a liver transplant. Nine years later, Best needed a transplant of her own.
The transplant recipient is the founder of the Move For Life Foundation, dedicated to reducing the waitlist for organ transplants.
Best had been training for over a year in preparation for her big swim, and says she never considered stopping.
"It was really hard, I thought it would hurt a lot more than it did physically...I never gave myself the option to quit. I told myself I wasn't going to stop for any reason of my own, but everybody helping me along the way was really helpful."
A GoFundMe campaign set up to support her mission had raised over $77,000 as of Wednesday evening.
All funds raised will be used to purchase new equipment for the London Health Sciences Centre.
You can see her route across the lake here.
- With files from CTV News Toronto
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