Friends climb mountain to help find cure for baby

Rory Honeychurch, right, said he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness of his nephew's rare condition

A man has completed a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, to raise awareness of his baby nephew's rare condition.

Rory Honeychurch, 34, from Okehampton, said he and friend Brandon Horn started the ascent on 8 September and despite feeling unwell for about 30 hours of the walk, he did not "give up".

He said his nephew Kobe was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called Cystinosis at seven months old.

The men have raised £33,500 for the Cystinosis Foundation UK to help find a cure for his nephew and others suffering from the condition.

Rory Honeychurch, right, said he almost did not make the journey due to feeling unwell

Cystinosis is an exceptionally rare condition characterised by the crystallisation of the amino acid cystine in various body organs and tissues, the foundation explains on its website.

It said the condition could lead to kidney failure, muscle and bone problems, swallowing and feeding difficulties, diabetes, hypothyroidism, photophobia and only affected an estimated 2,000 people worldwide.

Mr Honeychurch said Kobe, who is now 18-months-old, was "growing well" and was being fed.

Rory Honeychurch and Brandon Horn completed the walk on 12 September

However, Mr Honeychurch said he almost did not make it to the top of the mountain because he suffered from altitude sickness.

"The headache just got worse and worse, then I felt like I was going to be sick all the time and I was really dizzy," he said.

"Brandon kept holding me up as we were trying to climb over the mountain."

He said his group of 16 people wanted him to stop but he "wasn't giving up". In total they travelled 5895m (19340ft) up and over four days, it took them "130,000 steps".

"I thought they were going to make me stop but luckily, they trusted my instinct and we got there," he said.

He said they walked across alpine dessert, through rainforests and stayed overnight in artic conditions over five days.

Kobe’s mum Hayley Honeychurch, who is Mr Honeychurch's sister-in-law, said: "For both of them to do it with Kobe in mind just meant the world to us all and for them to do such a big challenge has enabled us to do so much more with our fundraising."