Towers Rotana raises funds for eight-year-old

The team from Towers Rotana at the summit of Gokyo Ri.

A team of six climbers from Towers Rotana in Dubai travelled to Nepal to trek to the summit of Gokyo Ri – which stands opposite Mount Everest – to raise funds for eight-year-old Harrison Smith.

Smith suffers from duchenese muscular dystrophy a terminal disease that occurs primarily in boys and usually results in death before the age of 20.

Commenting on the fundraising effort, Bodylines recreational manager Phill Robson, who was part of the trek, said: “Between the start, at the bottom of the climb and the hard trek to the summit, you find the answer to the question why are we doing this, on this trek the answer was Harrison, pure and simple.

“I have committed to set up the Dubai based charter of the UK charity Harrison’s Fund in order to help families of the UAE with children who suffer from Duchene Muscular Dystrophy. Currently there are 425 cases in the UAE and five known cases in Dubai alone. To this end I am trying to organise another event to raise more funds and awareness for these children.”

In 2013, Towers Rotana committed to hosting one event each year to support Harrison’s Fund. The Emirates to Everest initiative raised AED40,000 (US $10,892) and the hotel is hoping to achieve its target of AED50,000 in the next two weeks.

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Towers Rotana Dubai general manager Mrad El Khoury said: “As part of Rotana corporate social responsibilities Towers Rotana has organized this event in order to raise the maximum awareness about Duchene Muscular Dystrophy and gather funds for finding a cure for it. We hope that the foundation will tremendously benefit from this event and we will continue our efforts in pursuing this commitment with great dedication and enthusiasm. I would like to thank everyone who supported this event; our awareness campaign will be continued in order to make Harrison’s wish come true by finding a cure for this fatal illness.”

Harrison Smith’s father Alex Smith added: “The Emirates to Everest team are without doubt Harrison’s hero's. We watched developments, training and then all the reports from the trek itself really closely from the UK and Harrison took a real interest in how Grandpa Rex and ‘Batman’ (aka Phil Robson) were getting on. It was an epic physical challenge to undertake for all those boys who can't and one for which we are incredibly appreciative. All the funds raised will help us to further fund breakthrough Duchene research.”