Local ambulance service Quick Response Services joined the Sunflower Fund for the Everest 36-Hour Challenge in aid of charity.
Now in its second year, the event was to raise funds and awareness for leukaemia sufferers and survivors. Solo athletes climbed 100 000 steps at the Westcliff Hotel on 21 and 22 March. The 100 000 steps were about 100km and 200 reps, the equivalent of Mount Everest from sea level.
“All the families of cancer survivors were able to take part and they were all raising funds for leukaemia sufferers and the awareness of other cancers,” said founder and executive member of Quick Response Services, Denver Ramnarain.
Ryan Funnell, who survived leukaemia after receiving a bone marrow transplant, said the Everest Challenge was an inspiration and realisation of a dream “We may not be in the Himalayas but this is still daunting and gruelling.” This was the second time he took part in the challenge.
CEO of the Sunflower Fund Tarryn Corlett said there was a great synergy between the challenge of climbing 100 000 stairs and struggles that patients face when searching for their life-saving donor match. “For most patients, the odds of finding their life-saving match within their ethnic group is 1 in 100 000,” Corlett said.
Thousands of South Africans are diagnosed with leukaemia and other life-threatening blood disorders. Many of the patients are unable to stay in remission with chemotherapy along and a procedure such as a bone marrow stem cell transplant can be a life-saving treatment.
