Xtreme Everest - Going to Extremes to Understand Critical Illness

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page - I hope you will be able to help.

I'm trekking to Everest Base Camp in March 2013 to raise money for Xtreme Everest 2 and at the same time I'm 'donating my body to medical science' as a participant in a research project to help critically ill patients. I'm looking to raise at least £1000 for this extremely worthy cause - please note that I am paying all my expedition costs myself, so all the money I raise will go direct to the charity.

Intensive care represents the knife edge between life and death and extreme illnesses require cutting edge research to provide solutions. Despite intensive care being one of the most sophisticated areas of hospital care, hypoxia - lack of oxygen reaching the body's vital organs - is a common problem for patients in an intensive care unit.

This expedition will allow researchers to gather invaluable data about how the human body (in this case, mine!) adapts to hypoxia caused by the low levels of oxygen found at high altitude. They will then use this data to improve intensive care provision. In the UK, 40% of patients who end up in intensive care will die, so getting this figure down is a critical issue.

This innovative research is being conducted by Xtreme Everest, a not-for-profit organisation led by doctors and scientists from UCL, University of Southampton and Duke University in the United States.

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.

Please donate whatever you can, it will be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

Liz