Young cancer survivor raises thousands with mountain climb

£47,000 COLLECTED FOR TWO CHARITIES

- By TOM KEIGHLEY

A YOUNG South Cave man who has endured a rollercoaster cancer journey has returned from the top of Africa’s highest mountain having raised thousands of pounds for the NHS heroes who saved his life.

Three years ago Freddie Cole was diagnosed with Burkitts lymphoma, a rare cancer in the bone marrow and the lymph system, that impacts just 210 people in the UK each year.

He spent four consecutive months on Ward 33 at Castle Hill Hospital’s Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Unit, where he says staff saved his life. And despite a “rollercoaster” journey involving aggressive chemotherapy, multiple blood and platelet transfusions and even a bout of sepsis, Freddie made it home and was given the all-clear last year.

The 27-year-old resolved to support the Teenage Cancer Trust and WISHH, the Hull Hospitals charity, following his support from the TYA Unit and Ward 33 staff at the Queen's Centre. And in an attempt to push himself to the limit, Freddie chose a fundraising trek to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The operations manager at Drewtons Farm Shop spent months preparing for the six-day hike to the summit, which he completed with eight strangers who have since become close friends. And having initially set a target of £10,000 he has now raised £47,000 for the two charities.

Freddie said: “A few years before my diagnosis, I began to take an interest in hiking; a few friends and I would travel around the UK exploring and taking on some popular hiking trails. While I was in hospital, I decided that if I had a good result and a good recovery, once I was back to full strength, that I would do something to give back to the people that saved my life, and Kilimanjaro stood out as a good challenge to take on.