CHRIS TO HIT NEW HEIGHTS
Dad-of-three aiming to raise thousands for charity with mountain climb despite battling cancer
A Wearside dad-of-three is set to climb Scafell Pike as part of his birthday celebrations while raising money for Children with Cancer UK.
Chris Johnson from High Barnes was sadly diagnosed in December 2019 with a gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST), a rare form of cancer which affects the digestive system.
Following his diagnosis, Chris wanted to challenge himself and he set his sights on running the London Marathon in October this year.
As his 42nd birthday approaches on August 10, he challenged his Twitter followers to give 3,209 likes (the height in feet of Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain) on a tweet for him to take on the challenge.
He was aiming for £3,209 in donations to do it in a Newcastle shirt.
Chris, who is husband to wife Lucy and dad to Luke, Molly, and Nancy, has so far raised over £8,800 for the children’s cancer charity and following a boost from his latest challenge, he is now approaching the £10,000 mark.
He said: “I decided to do it as this year is probably the last chance to do things like this while I’m in good health and the weather is ideal at the moment so I thought why not.
"I’m going to be doing on Monday (August 9) it with a friend and a couple of others who are in a similar situation to me and I’m looking forward to it.
"The tweet obviously has done really well but the main aim to raise awareness for the cause and I’ve managed to raise an extra £1,400 on the back of it.”
Chris is still training ahead of the London Marathon this year, having already completed the Sunderland 10K in June.
He added: “My treatment is still going well.
"It has been making me feel quite tired over the last month but I’m coming to the end of the current cycle and I’m able to manage it better.
"I’ve had to join the gym again and train inside as the recent hot weather is a problem for running outside but I’m doing enough to ensure that I get round both the Great North Run and the London Marathon.”
You can follow Chris’ journey on both climbing Scafell Pike and training for the London Marathon via his Twitter account @gotthegistofit