ALEX Cochrane has raised £3600 to fight his mother’s illness by scaling the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
He climbed the Kenyan giant two weeks ago to raise money for LUPUS UK, a charity which was set up to fight the rare immune disorder Lupus, an illness with which Alex’s mother has been diagnosed.
Alex, who works for AMICUS ITS in Totton, trained for over a year in preparation for the 19,000 ft climb by scaling Mt Snowdon and Scafell Pike.
Alex’s mother Jo Cochrane, 52, said: "Alex just texted me one day and said he’d done something really daft. Then he told me that he'd decided to climb Kilimanjaro.
I couldn’t believe it at first but I’m really proud of him. He’s proved that you can do anything if you really work at it."
Alex, a keen snowboarder said: "I hadn’t really done anything like this before so I had to go out and buy some walking boots. It was one of the hardest and best things I’ve ever done. The wind chill factor at the summit was between minus 25 - minus 30 degrees and the organisers said it was one of the coldest years they had ever known. It would have been great to stick around and admire the view but it was just too cold.
"I phoned my mum on the way down as soon as I could get a signal even though she’d asked me not to. She was really excited."
But even when Alex got back to England, he couldn’t sit back and relax.
"I got in to find mum had organised a surprise party for me which was really amazing even though I was absolutely exhausted," he said.
Mrs Cochrane who works in a school for children with special needs suffers from the rare and so-far incurable illness which causes the immune system to turn against itself: "I get extreme tenderness and weakness in my joints and I’ve also got raynaud’s syndrome which means my fingers and toes go blue and cold at any slight change of temperature. I’ve only got a mild form of the disease compared to many people though, so I’m very lucky," she said.
Alex and his family have also organised a series of fundraising events over the past year including a computer racing night and community coffee mornings.
Mrs Cochrane said: "It’s great. We knit scarves to sell and have stalls for plants, books, toys and jewellery. All our friends and family are extremely supportive and there’s a great sense of community."
Janine Hirsch, fundraising manager for LUPUS UK said: "We’re absolutely delighted Alex has done this. This is still quite an unknown disorder so we need to raise as much money as possible to go towards scientific research”.
And Alex says this is only the start of his mountain conquering career: "I hope to do the three peaks challenge next year which involves climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon within twenty four hours," he said.
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