Living Large

Raymond Funnell is a happily married man with 3 wonderful kids. He has been working as a consulting engineer for BBE in the field of mine ventilation and cooling since 1995. In August 2006, Ray received news that changed his life forever. His wife Lynne convinced him to see a GP after noticing that a bruise on his arm wouldn’t heal and after a blood test and a bone marrow aspirate he was diagnosed with AML Leukaemia. The doctor informed him that there were many treatments out there and a survival rate of 20%. He continued to remain upbeat and was determined to join all the other Survivors. Raymond said, “that at that stage I had no idea just how hard or how long the treatment was going to last and that it would totally change my outlook on life (for the better).”

Ray was advised that his best solution was to look for a bone marrow donor, to be given any opportunity to a longer and healthier life. He was Fortunate enough to have found a perfect sibling match with his brother Gary and plans were put in place to have his bone marrow stem cell transplant at the beginning of 2007. On the day of the transplant, his wife had to transport the little bag of stem cells from the donation centre to his hospital, putting Ray’s “life in her own hands”. The infusion was uneventful and then it became a waiting game until the new bone marrow was able to produce new healthy blood cells. By the middle of the year he had recovered well to the point that he did a hike with his son Jayson, from the town of Greyton to Mc Gregor, in the July snow. Nothing could have prepared him for what happened next. In March of 2008, Ray went for a routine blood test and found out that he had relapsed. High concentrations of chemotherapy treatments followed his relapse, leaving his body weak, anaemic and about 28 kg lighter.

A “ray” of hope beamed down on him in 2009 as he started feeling better as his energy levels were on the incline and his taste buds were returning. In 2010, inspired by the exciting times of the Soccer World Cup, he decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, which was a dream that he had carried throughout his long treatment in hospital.

Ray described his experience by saying that “ it was a spiritual experience climbing the highest mountain in Africa and an emotional experience reaching the summit with his 3 climbing companions.” Ray’s outlook on life had changed in this moment and opened a new world, removing all the feelings of limitations. He decided to embark on an even greater challenge, of climbing the 7 Summits. In training for this incredible experience, Ray completed the Cape Argus in March 2011. Then in July 2011, he returned to Mount Kilimanjaro and summited it for the second time in only 9 months, this time sharing the experience with his son Jayson. After the climb Jayson was also hooked on climbing and so they decided they would attempt to climb the 7 Summits together.

So in January 2012 they both headed to South America to climb Aconcagua, the second highest of the 7 Summits and the highest peak outside of the Himalayas. Before he embarked on his journey, Ray made contact with The Sunflower Fund CEO, Tina Botha, who lost her son Chris Corlett to Leukaemia in 2000. He wanted to take a photo of the late Chris Corlett to the top of the summit as well as a banner with The Sunflower Fund and South African National Blood Services logos on it. After 2 weeks of climbing, Ray had managed to reach an amazing 6700m altitude but was then too dehydrated to continue to the summit. Ray’s son, who is only 15 years old, continued on without his father for an extra 262m to place Chris’ photo at the very top of the summit, at an altitude of 6962m. Ray’s dream and goal was to inspire other cancer survivors with a message “to never lose your dream”.

You can follow the full account of the climb on BlogSpot:  http://ray-livinglarge.blogspot.com. Their next climb will be Mt Elbrus in Russia, the highest peak in Europe, which will take place from 9-20 July 2012.

If you would like to find out more about becoming a bone marrow stem cell donor or to inspire and make a difference like Ray did, please contact The Sunflower Fund on 0800 12 10 82 or visit www.sunflowerfund.org.za