Amit Nathwani
Mt. Kilimanjaro Challenge 12 August 2010
Fundraising for Alzheimer's Research UK
Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
We want to thank every one who has donated and help us meet our target.
We have finally conquered Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was an amazing experience and the views were out of this world.
Please help us to meet our target! Thank you
Every penny we raise will make a real difference.
Reason for the Kili climb and nominating Alzheimers Research Trust as our charity. Climbing (also known as Kili) was a dream we shared with our beloved friend Atul Shukla who sadly passed away in October 2009 due to lung cancer. He was a real fighter and even until the very last moment he did not give up his dream to conquer Kili. In July last year he kept on saying ‘ Amitbhai we have to Kilimanjaro on your 50th Birthday’. Its hard to describe the beautiful friendship we shared, but describing Atulbhai is effortless. He was one of the kindest, most generous souls you could have known; giving was his passion, making people laugh his life’s aim but most importantly he remained throughout his life one of the most selfless individuals we have ever known. We will, therefore climb Kili to mark the passing of our special Atulbhai. We wanted to dedicate this climb to raising money for cancer charities as this dreadful curse on human life will affect one in three of us. But there is another condition that is affecting more and more of us and that is Alzheimer’s disease. This dreadful debilitating disease affected our father Chunilal Ramji Nathwani (Bapuji). There is no cure for this condition and Bapuji suffered a long, undignified and cruel death as a result of this condition. The suffering for him was on a par that you would expect from a cancer sufferer. There is currently little hope for a patient suffering from Alzhiemer’s and research in this field is desperately under-funded even though there are almost a million sufferers in the UK alone. Only £11 is spent on research each year for each person for fighting dementia, compared to £289 for cancer. It is for this reason that we decided to raise funds for Alzheimer's Research Trust (ART) on this occasion. This will be a fitting tribute to our father who fought poverty as a child but showered us with wealth knowledge and an understanding for humanity. Bapuji loved to meet people and enjoyed entertaining them at home. His grandchildren who called him DADA recall his unforgettable infectious smile. He had a big heart and always reached out to the needy and the disenfranchised. This is why we feel that we have to raise funds for ART as we pray that no one else should have to go through what our beloved Bapuji had to go through. He suffered for 5 years and we as a family felt helpless and could only watch and comfort him. With Alzheimer's you lose the person mentally, they don’t know you and you grieve for that lovely, caring person they once were. Despite encouraging recent advances, there is still no cure for Alzheimer's disease and more research is desperately needed. THE ART is dedicated to building on, and expanding, it’s work to conquer this devastating disease. HOPE THROUGH RESEARCH Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity. So please dig deep and donate now.