A former Monmouth Comprehensive student is climbing Kilimanjaro with her fiancé to raise money for a charity close to her heart.

29-year-old April Drake wants to raise £10,000 between the two of them to share between Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity and Crohn’s & Colitis UK.

She and Ed Hayward, from Devauden, will be starting the eight-day trek when the pair fly out to Kilimanjaro on November 30 this year, having had to cancel twice before due to the pandemic.

April’s story began in her early 20s when she was looking forward to start a gap year in South America. She began to have extreme stabbing pains in her stomach not long after her 22nd birthday.

“What I didn’t expect was to have my world turned upside-down and be diagnosed with Crohn’s disease,” she told the Beacon.

“I went from a happy, healthy and active young woman into a bed-ridden corpse in a matter of six months” she said.

April spent most of her early twenties confined to bed after being diagnosed in April 2015 with Crohn’s disease after months of agonising pain and rapid weight loss.

“I spent a long time on steroids and numerous other medications to try to stabilize the Crohn’s Disease, however all attempts failed.”

In 2016, she underwent major surgery to have part of the infected intestine removed, with the initial outcome looking positive. But less than two weeks later, she was rushed back into theatre after her bowel burst.

“I woke up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Royal Gwent linked to every machine known to man!

“ICU became my new home but thanks to the wonderful doctors and nurses that work for the NHS, I made a speedy recovery” she added.

To top it all, after months of malnutrition, another blow was to come.

“When I didn’t think I could sink any further, my hair fell out,” she said.

“So little is known about this chronic illness and unfortunately it took away the early part of my 20s” she added.

Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity - the children’s hospital that provides world class care for children from the first moments of birth - is very important to Ed’s family. His grandad is chairman and his mother is vice-chair, so the pair always hear first hand about the work the charity is involved in and the difference it makes to families across Wales. “Ed’s grown up with family very passionate about charity work and wants to do something and give back personally” said April.

“When we decided to walk Kilimanjaro, we knew straight away that it would be for these two charities. Both charities do amazing work for very different reasons. Its not just about raising money for them it’s also about raising awareness and bringing people’s attention to them both.”

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Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are the two main forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, affecting more than 300,000 people in the UK.

“There is currently no cure for Crohn’s Disease and a ‘flare up’ is possible at any time. This needs to change: We need a cure!” she said.

“We understand everyone supports a charity close to heart, however your support would be greatly appreciated.

“If you can spare £2 (nothing more) please help us hit our target by donating to either of the below charities. Every little bit will help us reach our goal.

The pair have been training on the Sugar Loaf and plan to go to Snowdonia next month.

You can help April to beat Crohn’s disease at https://tinyurl.com/2xjjz574 or if you want to donate to Noah’s Ark, go to https://tinyurl.com/53p9tncj