I am a student in Lower V and I have a close family friend called Emily. She is the sweetest most gorgeous little girl ever. Watching her grow up has been beautiful but also difficult. Emily has developed in a way different to children of her age due to an illness she was diagnosed with at a young age.

Her illness, for which there is presently no treatment nor cure and which is called BPAN, will severely limit her little life. She can now incredibly sign some 200 words and has very little speech. A point will come in the next few years where she will start to regress and lose what motor skills she has and all speech. Money needs to be raised to help Great Ormond Street Hospital find a cure. 

This half term my family and I have decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro is not only Africa’s tallest peak, but also the world’s tallest free standing mountain. The summit, named Uhuru Point, is 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) above sea level. Approximately 30,000 people climb Kilimanjaro every year. Though not substantiated, it is often reported that 50% of climbers fail.

This is to do with the challenging climb, the altitude and the journey to the summit moving through 5 different climate zones from the equator and rainforest up to arctic conditions. My brother is 10 years old which is the minimum age for climbing Kilimanjaro . This is the highest mountain children can climb. We are doing it to raise awareness and funds badly needed for research into BPAN so that a cure can be found to help Emily and all the other children in the World who suffer from the same condition.  We have climbed many other mountains including Snowdon, Ben Nevis and Mount Toubkal but this is by far our biggest challenge yet. We don’t know whether we will reach the summit but one thing is for sure – every step will be worthwhile and for Emily!  

To find out more about BPAN click here.

Finding a cure NOW will hopefully give little Emily years more of life and will help many other children with BPAN.

Great Ormond Street Hospital have agreed to put all donations received from Emily’s band of fund raisers, directly towards research into BPAN.

If you could please donate to support the climb for Emily  (and share the just giving page with your friends and family to raise awareness)  I would be so very grateful. The price of one less coffee a week for a month could make a huge difference to Emily’s life!

Aurelia, Lower V

The link to donate https://www.justgiving.com/page/aurelia-kemmis-1695560109788 

Here is a video thank you from Emily herself.

#emilyfeiler’sfight