A MUM and her two children have climbed Africa’s highest mountain to raise thousands of pounds for youngsters with bone cancer.

While Karen Curtet and son and daughter Ben and Maddison Wheeldon, from Prestwich, were climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Karen’s nephew, Chris Wild, was having treatment for bone cancer.

The trio took the 16-day Lemosho route up the mountain, which Karen said was a “real mental and physical challenge”. They reached the summit on September 24.

Now, 12-year-old Chris has been given the all-clear following his bone marrow operation and Ben, aged 17, Maddison, aged 21, and Karen have raised £8,000 for the Bone Cancer Research Trust.

Karen, aged 43, kept a daily diary and described the trip as the best and the worst experience of her life.

She said: “The trek up was absolutely amazing and the experience of being above the clouds is indescribable and totally surreal.

“The temperature was minus-20. As we were hiking up, it was very much a case of two steps forward and one step backwards which, given the altitude, made it particularly hard going.

“Reaching the summit was an incredible feeling. It was made all the more special by the fact that I was there with Ben and Maddison — and we knew that Chris had just finished his treatment.”

To make a donation: visit www.justgiving.com/gowild.