Glossop woman takes on Everest charity trek and raises more than £3,000

Debbie Lees, 61, completed the trek in aid of charity Prevent Breast Cancer, raising £3,264.

Debbie joined 31 other charity supporters, including Coronation Street actress Sally Dynevor, to climb up the mountain over the course of 12 days, facing sub-zero temperatures and tough terrain.

It’s a cause that is particularly close to Debbie’s heart, as she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002. After samples from her breast and lymph nodes showed that she had the disease, she was told that she would need a mastectomy.

Debbie, who was born with facial paralysis, found it a difficult decision to make.

She said: “As I have had facial paralysis, I felt that if I ever did get something like breast cancer, I wouldn’t want a mastectomy. Having lived with a disfigurement all my life, I didn’t want another. However, my prognosis without it wasn’t very good, and I knew I needed to do it for my children.”

Debbie was treated at The Nightingale Centre in Wythenshawe, where Prevent Breast Cancer is based, so she said she felt it was meant to be when she received the newsletter about the Everest Base Camp Trek.

She said: “The trek is one of the toughest things I have ever done, but the fabulous amount that we have raised and my wonderful fellow trekkers – some of whom I am sure will be life-long friends – also made it one of the most amazing experiences of my life.”

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with one in nine women and one in 1,000 men developing the disease in their lifetime. Prevent Breast Cancer funds ground-breaking research aimed at preventing the disease for future generations.

Nikki Barraclough, executive director of Prevent Breast Cancer, who also took part in the trek, said: “Climbing to Everest Base Camp certainly isn’t the easiest of challenges, but the team were incredible throughout – it’s an honour to have such inspiring people feel so passionately about our charity that they’re willing to climb the world’s largest mountain on our behalf. It’s thanks to people like Debbie that we are able to promote awareness.”