Trekking to Mt Everest for Pancreatic Cancer
By Con Kanellis
A life left unchallenged is a life without meaning... and it's this type of mentality that inspired 19 amazing individuals to band together in an incredible journey to reach a destination that is on so many people’s Bucket List.
Everest Base Camp is a symbolic destination in so many ways, and to the Nepalese people, it’s a spiritual and religious symbol.
To adventurers it’s a massive physical and mental challenge to be conquered- Everest means different things to different people- depending on their perspective.
The Wish You Were Team undertook this challenge for various reasons:
To raise awareness and funding for research into Pancreatic Cancer. This we did by wearing Purple Hats - Shirts throughout the journey and talking to people about what we were doing and why.
To honour and pay our respect to those lost to this disease and cancer in general.
To honour and respect the silent heroes - the carers and loved ones who battled in their own way.
Throughout our journey tears were shed as we remembered our loved ones - friends - who were taken away by PC.
As tends to happen, however, we did more than what we set out to do.
The journey from Kathmandu all the way to EBC created a small and special community of friends, who prior to this journey knew little of each other.
In Australia, the term mate is a treasured and powerful expression, that represents the pinnacle of human friendship. As a result of this journey, each member of the Wish You Were Here Team now has 18 new mates. It’s extremely humbling for me to acknowledge the following amazing individuals who made this epic adventure an unforgettable experience: Scott Hunt, Ralph Kemmler, Stephen Grosser, Matt Hare, James Osborne, Shane Hines, Nick Sabel, Ash Parmenter, Diego Britos, Brian Nichol, Filip Stepic, Wayne Wetherall, Alyssa - Marie, Elysia Wetherall, Erika Wetherall, Parry McCutcheon, Sambo Lyons
A huge thank you also to the whole team Wild Spirit Adventures who organised this trek and made it a seamless process. A massive thank you to our families who supported this massive quest and for the sacrifices that they have made to make it possible. Finally to all those who have supported our fundraising campaign no words can express our heartfelt thanks.
by Ralph Kemmler
This trek is one of the toughest but most rewarding challenges I have ever done. The altitude adds a whole extra dimension, walking/breathing is so much more difficult, stomach bugs seem to amplify and sap all energy but to finally make it to Base Camp after a gruelling 8 days trekking is emotional and rewarding.
The support we have had from our families, friends, sponsors and donors has been nothing short of amazing - a big thank you to everyone back home.
We all had tough days on the trek but the spirit of our team has helped us get through those days so that we achieved our goal. We only hope that our small but tough journey, which in some way symbolizes the physical and psychological challenge faced by cancer patients, helps to continue to raise awareness and funding to help those suffering from pancreatic cancer."
It's easy to support the Wish You Were Here team, and every donation counts: