Hi, my name is Richard Odell. I’m 40 years young and I have decided to make an attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. I have decided on this adventure for 2 reasons, the personal challenge my friends and I set ourselves a while ago, secondly to raise as much money as possible for The Breast Cancer Campaign.

My mother and aunt both fell foul of cancer in the 90’s, last year both my cousins were diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent the trauma of chemotherapy and various operations. Later they found out they had both inherited the BRCA 1 gene, they each have 2 daughters who could have also inherited it. If I can help with the fight to save other people from suffering, I feel I will have gone some distance to improve other’s lives.

Normally 120 out of 1000 women will develop breast cancer whereas 600 in 1000 women who have inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 will. So a woman who has inherited BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 is about 5 times more likely to develop Breast cancer.

Having turned 40 last April, the challenge was set to climb Mt Kilimanjaro at 19,340ft; nearly 6000m, it is Africa’s highest peak. Temperatures regularly drop to -20 where climbers are exposed to various risks like altitude sickness and hypothermia.

If you would like to sponsor me I would be most grateful.

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