Guernsey cancer survivor to climb Kilimanjaro for charity

Oksana Stojko during the start of her chemotherapy

A woman is aiming to get to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro two years after she was told she had breast cancer.

Guernsey resident Oksana Stojko, 34, went through rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery to treat the illness.

She said it "seems like a miracle" to be heading to Tanzania next month for the climb.

The Guernsey Society for Cancer Relief will benefit from any funds raised during the trip, Ms Stojko added.

She said it was her "dream" to climb Africa's highest peak.

Oksana Stojko and her fiancé have been training on the cliff paths on Guernsey

"When you go through something like [cancer treatment], you live week by week... just to get through the worst of the symptoms and hope for the next day to be better."

Speaking about her diagnosis two years ago, she said: "It came about very sudden.

"I don't think anyone my age ever thinks about [cancer] or even suspects that they will be diagnosed.

"You don't expect it to happen to you - but it did."

She is doing the walk with her fiancé and said they were paying for her own transport and equipment so all donations would go to the society.

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