Yes, I am off to summit Kilimanjaro in October

(or at least attempt it. Hoping the dreaded altitude sickness doesn’t take hold too badly)

My flights are booked, my climb is 90% paid for, most of my equipment is bought… or left over from Ten Tors/D of E… and my training is well and truly underway!

As such, I will be climbing Kilimanjaro in October and fundraising for GAIN the (Guillain-Barré & Associated Inflammatory Neuropathies) charity.​Now I just need to reach the summit!

I mentioned previously that I wasn’t going to climb Kilimanjaro for charity. Partly as it’s a personal challenge and partly as I somewhat disagree with people sponsoring others to do something that is, in essence, a tourist trip. However, I am fully funding this entire trip and paying for it myself! So no sponsorship will go towards equipment/flights etc… which is how it should be! I’ve previously raised money for Cancer Research UK and the Bone Cancer Research Trust with Tough Mudder after family members and close university friends have passed away. My mind has been swayed by recent events, and as I am funding it myself, I have now decided that I am going to start up a sponsorship page.

My grandad, who I was very close to, went in to hospital earlier this year and nobody, including his doctors, initially knew what was wrong with him. It turned out to be Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which is not only extraordinarily rare, but extremely serious. The body’s immune system begins to attack the nervous system, meaning that your coordination and walking amongst other things can be affected. It’s a horrible illness, which you can read more about here, as I’m not a Doctor and the NHS will explain it better than I ever could!

He left hospital and was doing really well, undergoing all his physio and rehab. Then around 3 weeks ago he was admitted to hospital and without going in to too much detail, died the next day. It was very sudden, and a complete shock for all of us. I’d only seen him the day before and he seemed okay. I’m not sure that the Dr’s can 100% guarantee that it was linked to his Guillain-Barré Syndrome but from our collective googling it seems that it played a large part.

As such, I can’t think of any charity I would rather support than one which helps those affected by this horrible illness. It’s such a rare condition that I feel more attention needs to be brought to it, and if I can raise any money at all, I will be happy to have helped them in some way.