Daman Ranby has raised a wonderful £3,709 by taking on the huge challenge of climbing Mont Blanc. The money raised has been donated to the City Hospital campus’ Oncology Department and the Hayward House hospice.
Daman wanted to raise money for these worthy causes following the deaths of two of those very dear to him: his grandfather, Lesley Parker, who had cancer and was treated in Hayward House; and his friend, Michael Barlow, who was treated in the Oncology Department for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma but sadly passed away. Daman felt that the service and care they both received was fantastic, and he wanted to express his appreciation, as well as doing what he could to help patients who will be treated there in the future.
Daman’s attempt to conquer the vast mountain in the French Alps (it stands at almost 16,000ft) began on Saturday 4th July. Along with four friends (Terry, Mike, Ray and Oli) who were also tackling Mont Blanc, his first few days in France were spent undergoing essential training in using ice axes, crampons and ropes. This was followed by a period of acclimatisation which involved trekking nearly 10,000ft in blizzard conditions.
As if the acclimatisation training wasn’t enough, the men set out to climb Mont Blanc itself the following Thursday. Having taken the mountain train to 7,200ft, the group climbed to 11,400ft where they stopped to rest at a refuge. The accommodation was hardly luxurious with over 150 climbers crowded into dormitories, all sleeping in their climbing gear due to the freezing temperatures. Even the toilets were covered in ice!
At 2am on the Friday morning the team set out in the dark in sub-zero conditions to press on towards the summit. Unfortunately, three of the team were unable to make it to the top, suffering with altitude sickness and exhaustion. Daman and Ray, however, after summoning all the strength they could muster, pushed on, finally reaching the 15,800ft summit at 6am. After weeks and weeks of training, the pair spent just 3 minutes at the top: it would have been just long enough for Daman to call his wife had his phone (and camera, water, sandwiches and suncream) not been frozen!
Daman explained that despite the thoroughly gruelling conditions, it was the encouragement of the causes for which he was raising money and the memory of his friend that kept him going: “The thought of the people I was climbing for, especially Mick and how he faced all of his challenges, and those who believed enough to sponsor me, kept me going when aching muscles, weary knees and lack of oxygen would have turned sensible people back.”
On behalf of the patients of the Oncology Department and Hayward House, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to Daman for all his courage, hard work and perseverance.
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