The JustGiving site closes on the 1st November.

£2,285 has been raised so far

http://www.justgiving.com/Jessica-White9

Quick back story

On July 16th, at around 11am, I was having an anaesthetic drip put into the back of my hand. A young nurse was stroking my arm and telling me I didn’t need to make jokes; I just had to be brave. I had lost 10 kgs in 5 weeks, couldn’t eat food. My name is Jess. I am 23. I was diagnosed with Fistulating Crohn’s disease in 2009. After surgery I was about 43 kgs, which is light for my 5ft 2”, and had 14 inches of my small intestine removed. This is probably the most ill I have been in the course of my illness and long before I had promised myself that one day I would celebrate overcoming such challenges by doing something epic, and raising a lot of money for a related charity.

Back in November I thought that I had been through the worst and started organising to do the Three Peaks challenge for August. Laerdal agreed to sponsor the event, and I made a website that explained my story and why this event was so important. Unfortunately, shortly after, my health deteriorated. By May I couldn’t have any food without it coming up or down, was losing blood, falling asleep everywhere, and had terrible arthritic symptoms I had to return home to be cared for by my parents. I postponed the event by a month but nothing was going to stop me.

The Challenge

8 weeks after surgery, I was in a car travelling to Fort William. The rain was lashing down and though I knew this was crazy, I was excited. Finally, I could do it. After weeks and years of being ill, I was going to raise a lot of money for a charity I was passionate about, doing something I loved.

The next morning I woke and the skies were clear. I checked my sack, dressed in my gear and went to my 10am briefing. We had a safety talk, met our company and leader for the next 24 hours and headed to our first mountain.
 

Ben Nevis

There were eight people in our group, two of us raising money for charity, five doing it for fun and one who had the challenge bought for his birthday. We all differed in our fitness and abilities and the pace was fast, but I did my best to keep up. One of the guys, Rod, was carrying an 25kg defiblerator (called Vince) for his charity event. It turned out a little bit too much for him, so we planted it in some bushes so that we could collect it on the way back down. The kit was worth around $15000, needless to say we were mildly concerned that someone might find it. Three of the girls climbing with us were from Holland and this was the first time they had scaled any mountains. They were extremely fit though and well suited to the challenge

Through sun and cloud, we all finally made it to the summit. We were exhausted, but we thought we had faced the worst. We decended, collected Vince the defiblerator, then three of us ran ahead and got to the base 30 minutes early. The stones were wet and though keeping up a good speed, we had to be mindful of where we were treading. Near the bottom I hit my knee on a rock, but didn’t think anything of it. We had seen much worse injuries in the other groups going up and down the mountain. Many had people that had to stop the challenge on the first ascent.
 

Once all of us were at the bottom, we were provided with a cup of tea, and the rest of my gorup had porridge. We then got into our cosy minivan for a 5 hour drive to Scafell. I refuelled on sausage and nuts and I tried to nap, but failed. Instead, while surrounded by soft snores, I stared out the window and thought of what was coming. My first ever night time walk on the only mountain of the three I had a profound distaste for. I had been up Scafell before and knew it was steep, with rocky terrain and often very poor visability.

Scafell

When we got out of the van I knew something was wrong. Shooting pains were stabbing through my knee. Nonetheless, I had my sticks and figured once I was moving it would subside. God bless sheer stubborness. However, as we went up the rocky staircase of Scafell I compensated for my knee and in the process, sprained my groin. I continued through the pain but around 300 paces from the summit my leg gave way underneath me. I knew we were up a mountain in thick cloud at 2am and the only way I would get down would be by my own volition. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I lost control. Luckily a group were heading down the mountain and the leader snapped me too my senses by threatening to throw me off it. I was laughing through my tears and though it was suggested I travel down with that group, it wasn’t an option in my head. I walked upfront with the leader and with my one good leg, dragged myself to the top. I was so relieved I just hugged the summit. This is why the photo at the top of Scafell is my favourite of the three. On the way down one of the dutch girls damaged her hip, and knew she wouldn't be able to do the last mountain.

Again at the bottom we had a quick cuppa (I could have married the tea lady/van driver) and gathered into the van. At last after a bite to eat, I found sleep.

We were warned at the beginning of the trip that the conditions on Snowdon were going to be bad and that we may not be allowed to even try to climb it. There really was nothing we could do about it, but the thought that we had all got this far to possibly be denied the chance to complete was disheartening.

Ben Nevis

When we got there, there were 80mph winds at the base and the rain was lashing down. One of our party decided that even if we were allowed, he wouldn't be finishing the challenge. Again, the advice was for me not to try it, but I had got this far. I was determined to pull myself up with my one good leg. Plus, I know Snowdon well. It was always going to be the favourite of the three. 

My dad was at the base, and as a keen hiker himself, decided he was going to join for the last one. I could only put pressure on my left leg, in the worst of conditions but with the support of my new found friends and my dad I pushed through. When it got to the point where we weren't allowed to go any further, I was the only one who wanted to. My dad thought it was halarious considering the state I was in, but wasn't surprised. We are a lot alike my old man and I. Also, I love climbing in rough conditions. The challenge makes it that much more fun. Three-quarters up Snowdon, we had to turn around.

Half an hour later the entire mountain was closed. Six out of eight of us made it. I could never have done it without such an amazing team and understanding leader.

In my eyes, we all succeeded. £2,285 has been raised so far. The JustGiving site closes on the 1st November.

It was worth ever tearful, painful step. Thank you.