On top of the WORLD

SALLY DYNEVOR on her monumental climb up Kilimanjaro

- ALISON SLADE

When TV Times catches up with Sally Dynevor for an exclusive interview, she has just been to see her chiropodist to get a black toenail checked out. It's a consequence of an epic adventure in September that pushed her to her physical limit, but has also given her the most magical of memories.

Coronation Street stalwart Sally, 62, was among a group of 14 intrepid travellers - including her 28-year-old son Sam - who scaled the world's tallest freestanding mountain, Kilimanjaro. Now, you wouldn't get Weatherfield's Sally Metcalfe doing that!

The climb has so far raised an incredible £85,000 for Prevent Breast Cancer. Sally became a patron of the charity after she was diagnosed with the disease in 2009 - you may recall that, in a cruel case of life imitating art, this happened as she was playing the storyline of her Corrie character's breast cancer diagnosis.

'We cycled from London to Paris in 2016 and trekked to Everest Base Camp in 2019, and then, two years ago, the head of the charity, Nikki Barraclough, said, "Are you up for another challenge?"' says Sally. 'I was like, "Absolutely!"'

Challenge is definitely the operative word. Mount Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania, East Africa, is almost 20,00oft high, and once you've huffed and puffed your way to the top - while carrying an enormous rucksack of clothes and supplies - you have to turn round and go all the way back down. And in Sally's case, there was an added level of difficulty.

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