A young man raised nearly £800 for a heart charity by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in memory of his school friend, writes Jane Harrison.
Chris Cockburn, 20, who had never been abroad alone before and nearly died in the process, took on the challenge in memory of Tom Clabburn, who died in 2007 aged 14, from an undiagnosed heart condition.
He also wanted to raise awareness of the charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) in a bid to save other lives. The money he raised will be matched by the Daily Mail.
While he has achieved a personal ambition, he has scaled new heights among Tom’s family and friends who have raised thousands of pounds for CRY.
Tom’s mum, Claire Prosser, who nominated Chris for a Pride award, said: “We think Chris Cockburn deserves this award because he has undertaken a sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, despite, in his words, not being a very active or sporty person.
“Chris has raised £780 in memory of his friend Tom, our son. The money we raise goes to fund free heart screenings for young people organised through CRY.
“As Chris said, ‘thankfully, because of the work of CRY, I knew that my heart would have no issues with this climb. Some of us aren’t so lucky’.
“It’s thanks to people like him that we can continue to fund these free screenings in west London.”
Chris, of Gloucester Road, Ealing, said he was honoured to be nominated, but was just delighted and relieved he had completed his challenge.
He said: “I didn’t know about Pride, but that’s amazing to be nominated. The whole trip was amazing but much harder than I expected.
“We had really bad weather, snowstorms and it was minus 30 degrees at the top.
“I hadn’t done much training and had very bad altitude sickness only an hour and a half from the top, but it was so cool when I made it. When I got to the top I started singing from the Proclaimers.
“I was very lucky because I almost went over the edge at one point and one of the guides dragged me back and saved me.
“For about a second I thought, ‘that’s it, I’m gone’. Nothing gets your heart pumping as much.”
He said he warned his worried parents that he would not be keeping in touch, but said they were very proud of him.
Chris added: “I am really pleased. This is the coolest thing I have ever done, but I would never do it again!”
Chris went to primary school with Tom so they were friends from the age of four.
He said: “He was so chatty and energetic. When we were told that Tom had died we were in absolute shock.
“That is why CRY is such an important thing. This happens to young people, not just older people.
“It’s not just about raising money, but awareness and how important it is to get tested.
“This is the first time I have done something for CRY, but life passes by, so I thought I want to do something now.”
