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Desert trek for love of Eilish
FOUR intrepid adventurers are preparing to hot-foot it across the Sahara to raise awareness of the early symptoms of ovarian cancer.
The participants, all from Buxton, fly out tomorrow (Friday) and will trek 100km under a scorching Sahara desert sun, crossing the rocky Atlas mountains in Morocco with a caravan of camels and a truck.
The gruelling sponsored challenge is being undertaken to support local mother-of-five Eilish Colclough's inspirational campaign to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, often labelled the 'silent killer' because it is difficult to diagnose, through the charity Target Ovarian Cancer.
Eilish, from Buxton, was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer at the age of 39.
Ovarian cancer affects 6,800 women every year and kills four times more than cervical cancer. But if women are diagnosed at an early stage, the survival rate can be up to 90 per cent.
Early symptoms can include persistent pelvic and abdominal pain, increased abdominal size/persistent bloating, difficulty eating and feeling full quickly.
Her eldest daughter, Emma Fahy, and a team of friends, including Emma's boyfriend Colin Moss, Sadie Gee and local staff nurse and mother-of-three Karen Heathcote, will be undertaking the LOVE Eilish 2009 Sahara Challenge, alongside other participants from around the world.
Eilish's nephew, Matthew Connell, 25, from Manchester, is also taking part, and will be sporting a stunning Mohawk, dyed bright flamingo pink.
Emma said: "I can't believe how little we knew about a disease which kills four times more women each year than cervical cancer. I don't want other families to have to go through what has been for us, the hardest time of our lives."
The five-day trek will include a sand dune run, meetings with various tribes and an old river bed walk, with searing heat during the day and temperatures of around -20 in the evenings.
But that hasn't deterred Karen, from Harpur Hill, who is a staff nurse at Buxton Hospital's Minor Injuries Unit, and also works in palliative care.
"Eilish is my friend and I love her to bits, but also I thought because of the job I do it would be nice to give something back," she explained.
"I feel really excited and honoured that I have been given this opportunity to go along and help spread the word about ovarian cancer."
The group has already organised a number of fundraising events, raising 800 during a race night at The Parks Inn, and 1,500 from a 'Dress Your Best' day involving youngsters from Harpur Hill Primary School, Harpur Hill Pre-School, St Anne's Primary School and St Thomas More School. More recently, they collected 500 during a bag pack at Morrisons, while handing out leaflets detailing the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
They are also planning to hold a party upon their return, to thank everyone who has supported them. This has included New Bodies Gym, who provided discounted membership and one-to-one training, and Andrews Coaches for laying on transport to Gatwick Airport.
"We have paid for the trek ourselves, aside from a little fundraising, so all the money that we raise will be given direct to the charity," added Karen.
Anyone wishing to sponsor the LOVE Eilish Sahara Trek participants, in aid of Target Ovarian Cancer, can visit www.justgiving.com/BuxtonLOVEsEilish.
Sponsorship forms are also available at the Buxton Advertiser reception.
Duchess of York backs campaign
EILISH Colclough's personal fight against ovarian cancer and her battle to raise awareness of the killer disease has already taken her to Westminster, where she lobbied MPs.
This followed the release of Target Ovarian Cancer's Pathfinder Study, which showed just how many women and, more worryingly, GPs, were ignorant of the symptoms of the disease with an appalling survival rate of just 30 per cent.
More recently, Eilish attended the Woman of Substance Awards at the Dorchester Hotel in London, mixing with a range of well-known celebrities such as Jenny Seagrove and Gaby Roslin, as well as the Duchess of York, who was "lovely and seemed genuinely interested in what we are trying to do!"
Eilish, who is currently recovering at Christies Hospital after an operation, added: "Early diagnosis is still the key – nine out of ten women diagnosed in the early stages can make a complete recovery – that didn't happen for me – but if you listen to your body and talk about the symptoms with your friends - you can start to turn the tide."
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Weather for Buxton
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
