Clinton Shard is 16, and was diagnosed with Crohn's at age 12. With the group IBD Adventures, Clinton is climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro this September.
I loved this quote from his bio on the IBD Adventures page:
When Clinton was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at the age of 12, he was forced to stop doing all the things he loved: soccer, being with friends, mountain biking, climbing, and hiking. He never imagined being able to begin doing all these things again, let alone climb Mount Kilimanjaro! Crohn’s Disease may have put Clinton’s life on hold, but he sure isn’t going to let it stop him.
photo courtesy of Wikipedia
I have days where just taking a shower, getting dressed, and going to work feels like climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. I have a lot of admiration for this group, which is a mix of people who encounter IBD in their daily lives and want to use their adventuring to foster awareness and raise money. There's a guy with an ostomy, an IBD Ostomy nurse, a 16 year old kid, a musician, an IT guy, a fitness expert... What a great team. The group's NO GUTS KNOW GLORY! Seven Summits campaign plans to climb the tallest summits on all 7 continents.
Here is a link to donate to support No Guts No Glory's fundraising for IBD.
Climber's name is Clinton Shard.