Expedition for Duchenne on despite Mt Kinabalu closure

Kota Kinabalu: The majestic Mount Kinabalu may be closed until September to make way for trail repairs and infrastructure rebuilding, but that will not stop Coalition Duchenne's Expedition Mount Kinabalu from carrying out their signature annual event this August.Coalition Duchenne Founder and Executive Director Catherine Jayasuria said the expedition will go on this year although she does not know exactly what form it would take.

"But we will still be assembling there from Aug 7 to 9. We are very much committed to raising global awareness for Duchenne.

"This year, we will also be honouring Robbi Sapinggi and others who lost their lives in the earthquake, and also honouring the young men with Duchenne," she said, adding that this would be the coalition's fifth annual expedition.

Catherine added that due to the closure of Mount Kinabalu, she is giving her climbers the choice of either postponing their climb to 2016 or coming to this year's event, knowing that it would be impossible to scale Mount Kinabalu.

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"Nevertheless, there will be some kind of climb or trek, and I will know later in the week after I talk again with authorities," she said.

She admitted that while most of the climbers have decided to postpone, the coalition has a smaller but committed group of international climbers who want to be part of the team this year.

"It is difficult to know the exact numbers at the moment as people are still deciding. But it will be under 40 people. Possibly a bit less," she said.

This would be the second major international event, set to be held at Mount Kinabalu, which had to be altered after the cancellation of the annual Mount Kinabalu Climbathon in October this year following the 5.9-magnitude earthquake that claimed 18 lives and damaged most of the mountain trails.

The Coalition Duchenne is a non-profit organisation that raises global awareness and funding for Duchenne muscular dystrophy through donations and various annual fundraising events.

Its commitment is that one hundred per cent of all money raised by Coalition Duchenne goes directly to fund research.

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Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a progressive muscle wasting disease. It is the most common fatal disease that affects children.

It occurs in 1 in 3,500 male births, across all races, cultures and countries.

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