What happens when a group of nurses, doctors and cancer survivors of all ages come together to climb the highest mountain in Africa? History is made, and more importantly, lives are saved.
Lights, Camera, Action!
Hollywood cinematographer and cancer survivor, Lila Javan, and her team, Team Javan, of 14 supporters – ranging from age 19 to 60 – have officially started their 12-day climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise funds for cancer cures. Team Javan has been vigorously training for the past several months as part of Climb 2 Cure (C2C), a new fundraising adventure offered in LLS’s Team In Training program.
Lila will be filming the entire climb from start to finish, and starring in the documentary of her career. This is no ordinary “girl against the mountain” story. She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) – one of the most deadly blood cancers – twice. Lila dreamnt about taking-on the big climb from her hospital bed, and now she is literally moving mountains.
An Uphill Battle
At age 39, Lila received her AML diagnosis right before she was about to shoot a big movie. Fortunately, her recovery was so miraculous that six months into remission, she joined LLS’s billion-dollar fundraising campaign, Team In Training and ran the Los Angeles Marathon. But her journey to fight cancer didn’t end there.
Armed with the fact that every three minutes someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with a blood cancer, Lila was determined to give back. After being in remission for almost five years, she was planning a trip to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro— a bucket-list challenge that she was hoping to complete one day. Just when she was looking into flights, she was re-diagnosed with AML.
During her months in the hospital, her friends added a big picture of Kilimanjaro to her hospital room to keep her focused on her goal. After undergoing a second bone marrow transplant, Lila once again achieved remission and formed the Climb 2 Cure campaign, which represents a group of people coming together in teams to raise money for LLS as they train together for the ultimate adventure of a lifetime.
Rising Action
Several participants on Team Javan are doctors and nurses who Lila inspired to join while in the hospital at UCLA. Team Javan is the first official C2C team – with a total fundraising goal of $100,000. As of today, Lila has personally raised over $24,000. Team Javan has inspired dozens of other participants across the U.S. to form their own C2C teams who will also be climbing Kilimanjaro throughout the year and raising significant money for LLS — including Ghost Hunter stars Jeff Belanger and Dustin Pari.
A national coach will help train C2C participants for the big climb with regularly scheduled hikes that simulate the duration of the hike days on Kilimanjaro.
Stay tuned for Team Javan’s epic photos and videos – including behind-the-scenes content and footage of the team’s experience on the mountain. Notably, on January 12, they will be able to soak in the spectacular views of a full moon from one of the highest points on earth. See photos of Team Javan in Africa below..
Learn how you can donate to Team Javan and help them reach their fundraising goal for cancer cures, or become involved with Team In Training’s Climb 2 Cure here.
