Gavin Hastings to climb Kilimanjaro for love of wife

HE IS the hero of Scottish rugby, often considered its greatest player who won plaudits for his leadership, captaining his country into 20 internationals. But now Gavin Hastings is helping to motivate a new team – and has a new mountain to climb.

Hastings is part of an expedition looking to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and money for research into Parkinson’s disease, just over a year after the star revealed his wife suffered from the condition.

A group of climbers and walkers, several of them afflicted with the disease, launched their personal attempt to scale Africa’s highest mountain yesterday.

Hastings, whose wife Diane, 47, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s eight years ago, spoke of the group’s “courage and inspiration” as they set out.

Hastings decided to make the climb partly as “something momentous” in his 50th birthday year. But more importantly, he said, he has set a target of raising £50,000 to fund pioneering treatments for Parkinson’s, with £32,000 netted so far.

Known as the public face of Scottish rugby, after an international career that ran from 1986-95, he hopes to make the summit on Wednesday, with 29 others, on the 70th birthday of Muhammad Ali.

The legendary heavyweight boxer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984.

Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, one of the highest peaks with walkable routes to the top, is scaled by thousands of people a year. But at nearly 6,000 metres, is still a formidable challenge with its oxygen-starved atmosphere.

Among those making the ascent is Scot Bryn Williams, who was also diagnosed with the disease in his thirties and who details his experiences living with the condition on his blog, “Wobbly Williams”.

Yesterday, Mr Williams described the summit as “bathed in starlight”. The mountain was “undulating, craggy, dramatic and beautiful”, he wrote.

The group showered in a freezing glacial waterfall. “Everyone else who showered enthused how wonderful it was. I think they were all fibbing because Gavin said he loved it. And I think he was fibbing too,” he wrote.

“My health is good. There are three obstacles in my way, three obstacles which may prevent me getting to the summit: the runs, the altitude and my Parkinson’s. The runs have not put in an appearance yet, thankfully. The altitude is OK… and my Parkinson’s does what it can, but determination keeps it at bay.”

Mr Williams said he was giving up ten days of his life for the walk to encourage people to take a few minutes to donate on his Just Giving page, at justgiving.com/biggavs50th.

The money raised will go to trials of a drug-delivery system this year, developed at a Bristol hospital. Hastings says he hopes it will be the start of finding a cure for Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases.

Hastings and his wife spoke at the weekend of her struggle with the disease.

“It was hellish,” he said of the day when she called him with the news, when he was in Australia for the 2003 World Cup. “I went into shock. Diane is absolutely gorgeous, so very positive and determined.”

Mrs Hastings was “gobsmacked”, because she said: “I thought Parkinson’s only happened to old people.”

The couple more recently broke the news to their two teenage children. “Diane was just unbelievable,” Gavin said. “Honestly, she made it sound as if she had the equivalent to a cold.”