On October 28, 2015, Jenna Lowe would have turned 21.

Tragically, she passed away in June of the same year, but by then she had already captured the hearts of many South Africans, who followed her fearless fight against the odds.

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, and 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, her mother Gabi Lowe’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, her family, and friends, Gabi faced these challenges head-on.

Now Gabi is sharing her story with the world in her brilliant memoir, Get Me To 21, revealing the incredible, 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?

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 also see how Jenna’s ultimate passion to change the world for the better, even in sickness, would create massive social impact in her country.

Organ donor registration increased by 238% through her #GetMeTo21 campaign, and the journey as a whole 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 today, at all top book retailers around the country – including Exclusive Books, Bargain Books and PNA.

There will also be public book launches on:

• August 6 at The Book Lounge in Cape Town
• August 14 at Exclusive Books at Hyde Park Centre, Johannesburg
• August 29 at the Beverley Hills Hotel in Durban

The book is now available online at www.jennalowe.org, and if you purchase directly from the site, 10% goes towards the Jenna Lowe Trust.