Hello!

Thanks for taking a moment to visit my fundraising page.

My dad, James Duckworth, and I are undertaking a huge challenge. We intend to walk part of the gruelling Annapurna trail in the Himalayas. Once acclimatised in Kathmandu we travel to Pokhara. From there we trek for up to 9 - 10 hours a day for 6 days, sleeping in two man tents along the way, before returning to Kathmandu. We leave on 25th March and return on 4th April 2010.

My dad and I are doing our walking training, breaking in boots and gathering the required kit. We know this will be a tough challenge, as well as an opportunity of a life time, your donations and support will keep us going during the challenging moments. Beating Bowel Cancer will benefit from every penny raised,continuing to do life changing work for all those people affected by bowel cancer.

 

My Story (in brief!)

Aged 24 (1998) I was diagnosed with advanced Bowel Cancer. Having been misdiagnosed by seven different G.P's for four years. The cancer had spread to my liver and lymph nodes. The outlook was very bleak and my prognosis gave me a very slim chance of survival (a matter of weeks). My surgeon saved my life. 6 months of continuous aggressive chemotherapy followed, the chemo drugs flowed through an innocuous looking tube that had been inserted in my chest 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Surgery, treatment and huge support from so many people enabled me to make  a full recovery. I will celebrate my 12 year 'all-clear' anniversary whilst on the trek.

I have always enjoyed life to the full. I continue to do so with my husband Damian, 2 children Jago (7yrs) Ruby(5yrs).....they are the true miracles - arriving against the odds of chemo making me infertile. Family and friends were the best medicine during my recovery and mean everything to me . I am one of the lucky ones. Leaving family and friends for the 10 day trip will be the toughest challenge for me, tissues at the ready on departure!

The Charity

I got involved with Beating Bowel Cancer when I was on chemo and went on to work for the charity for 5 years, once I was better. Without the charity's help and support I would not have made such a speedy and full recovery and they continue to do amazing life changing work for people suffering from the second largest cancer killer in this country.

Bowel Cancer affects 35,000 people in the uk each year, 50 people die every day from bowel cancer. 90% of cases can be cured if caught early. With your help the charity can continue to help save more lives by raising awareness of symptoms, promoting early diagnosis and developing treatment for this terrible disease.

More information on the charity and bowel cancer visit www.beatingbowelcancer.org

JustGiving

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.