Monday, September 12, 2011

Mum scales Mount Kinabalu for the sake of ailing son

KOTA KINABALU: Heavy rain beat down on her and the climb was painful but no mountain is too high for Catherine Jayasuriya, who scaled the country's highest peak for the sake of her ailing son.

“The climb was challenging as it was raining and windy.

“But it was nothing compared with what my son is going through,” she said, after descending from the mighty Mount Kinabalu with several international climbers on Saturday.

It was not so much about reaching the top of the 4,095m mountain than conquering Duchenne, a fatal muscular dystrophy that involves rapidly worsening muscle weakness.

Her son, Dusty Brandon, 18, is afflicted with the disease, which is said to occur one in every 3,500 male births, cutting across race, culture and country.

Symptoms usually appear before the child reaches six and may appear as early as infancy.

Catherine, who founded the Coalition Duchenne to bring global awareness about the disease by making the long hard climb to South-East Asia's grandest peak, said:

“It was windy and drizzling and when we reached the summit it was very cold.

“One of the climbers said it was the worst weather he ever experienced in his 25 climbs up the mountain.

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