Trekking for a good cause: From UAE to Mount Everest for Harrison’s Fund

Sport360 staff 16:54 14/05/2014
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  • Goal achieved: The Towers Rotana team at the summit of Gokyo Ri.

    In March 2014, six enthusiastic adventurers, led by the representatives of Towers Rotana, teamed up to travel from the UAE to Nepal to take on the mighty Himalaya and reach the summit of Gokyo Ri (5,357m). 

    Standing opposite to Mount Everest, the team were inspired to take on this intimidating mountain in support of a very brave young eight-year-old; Harrison Smith. 

    Harrison was diagnosed with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a killer disease that will end his life and all patients suffering from the same disease before they are 20 years old.

    DMD is a rapidly progressive form of muscular dystrophy that occurs primarily in boys. It is caused by an alteration in a gene, called the DMD gene.

    Individuals diagnosed with DMD have progressive loss of muscle function and weakness, which begins in the lower limbs.

    It affects approximately 1 in 3,500 male births worldwide and unfortunately there is no cure till now.

    Mrad El Khoury General Manager of Towers Rotana Dubai said: “ Towers Rotana has organized this event in order to raise the maximum awareness about Duchene Muscular Dystrophy and gather funds for finding a cure for it.

    "We hope that the foundation will tremendously benefit from this event and we will continue our efforts in pursuing this commitment with great dedication and enthusiasm.

    "I would like to thank everyone who supported this event; our awareness campaign will be continued in order to make Harrison’s wish come true by finding a cure for this fatal illness.”

    Phill Robson who works as the Recreational Manager of Bodylines in the Towers Rotana was one of the six who undertook the epic jounrey and made it to the peak. 

    “Between the start, at the bottom of the climb and the hard trek to the summit, you find the answer to the question why are we doing this, on this Trek the answer was Harrison, pure and simple.

    "I have committed to set up Dubai based charter of the UK charity Harrison’s Fund in order to help families of the UAE with children who suffer from Duchene Muscular Dystrophy. Currently there are 425 cases in the UAE and 5 known cases in Dubai alone.

    "To this end I am trying to organize another event to raise more funds and awareness for these children.”

    Alex Smith, Harrison’s father, added: “The Emirates to Everest team are without doubt Harrison’s Hero's. We watched developments, training and then all the reports from the trek itself really closely from the UK and Harrison took a real interest in how Grandpa Rex and Batman (aka Phil Robson) were getting on.

    "It was an epic physical challenge to undertake for all those boys who can't and one for which we are incredibly appreciative. All the funds raised will help us to further fund breakthrough Duchene research.”

    Earlier last year Towers Rotana committed to produce one significant event each year to support Harrison’s Fund and raise worldwide awareness.

    With this event and under the umbrella of Towers Rotana, Emirates to Everest collected AED 40,000 and is looking forward to reaching the target of AED 50,000 in the next 2 weeks.

    If you would like to donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/dineshputtee

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