Fallbrook man joins Parkinson's hike to Mt. Everest base camp

SAN DIEGO – A Fallbrook man and nine other area Parkinson’s patients, family members, friends and other spirited adventurers will depart from San Diego on October 9 to begin a three-week fundraising trek to Nepal’s south base camp of Mt. Everest, altitude 17,598’. The trek is focused on self-empowerment as well as bringing essential funding and awareness to cutting-edge research that may lead to a viable long-term treatment for those afflicted with Parkinson’s disease.

According to Sherrie Gould, nurse practitioner at Scripps Clinic Movement Disorders Center and the architect of the Mt. Everest base-camp climb, “The goal of the trek is to draw attention and support to an amazing breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease that could put the lives of those with Parkinson’s back on track: using stem cells created from a patient’s own skin.”

Gould said researchers “can now turn simple skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs that abandon the need for embryonic stem cells, thereby avoiding the ethical and political issues that have plagued stem

cell research.

In 2011, some members of this group climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro—at 19,341′, the highest mountain in Africa—to raise money for the same Parkinson’s research. They raised $350,000 dollars as a result of the climb. Sixteen hikers, three men, each in their 50s with early to mid-stage Parkinson’s, and their support team of thirteen, summited Mount Kilimanjaro.

There are an estimated 1.5 million Americans living with the disorder and approximately 50,000 new cases diagnosed every year, but the climbers are already seeing beyond the mountain as they train.

“We know the climb is a courageous act, but we want to inspire all who face seemingly insurmountable odds to rise above them and escape the limitations we all set for ourselves,” said Gould. “It’s time to not only meet this mountain, but to move it!”

The energetic Gould and her team of hikers, who will pay all their own expenses, are seeking donations, large and small, at http://www.summit4stemcell.org. One hundred percent of the money raised will be used for this research as a long-term treatment for Parkinson’s disease. All fundraising is tax deductible and done through a partnership with the Parkinson’s Association of San Diego.

For more information, email Gould at [email protected].