Peak practice
29 October 2010
(From left to right) Rob Howley, Melanie Noble, Dr Simon Noble, Warren Gatland
A leading University lecturer in Palliative Medicine has joined some of Wales’ most famous rugby captains in successfully scaling Africa’s highest peak.
Dr Simon Noble, School of Medicine, successfully reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro – joining former Welsh captains Ieuan Evans, Gareth Thomas, Scott Gibbs, Scott Quinnell, Garin Jenkins and Rob Howley and current Wales coach Warren Gatland in the process.
“Reaching the top of Africa’s highest mountain was such an amazing personal achievement for me and without doubt one of my toughest ever challenges. The fact I was able to do this with the support and dedication of some of Wales greatest rugby legends was an amazing bonus,” said Dr Noble.
“More importantly were able to help raise money for an amazing charity to help fund research into lung cancer and raise awareness of the disease” he added.
Dr Noble was the only University member of the Brains SA Captains Climb – a charity climb designed to help raise £1m for Velindre Cancer Centre’s Stepping Stones appeal.
Husband and wife team, Dr Simon Noble and Melanie Noble at the top of Kilamanjaro
The climb was the brainchild of photographer Huw Evans, whose wife Sue was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008.
Dr Noble is a Clinical Senior Lecturer in Palliative Medicine based in the School of Medicine and is an honorary consultant in the NHS.
His main research interests are in the management of venous thromboembolism in advanced cancer and the anticancer effects of heparins. He is involved at a national level in the delivery of evidence based thromboprophylaxis for hospitalised patients through the All Party Thrombosis Group and the UK Thromboprophylaxis Forum.
He is also Trustee and Medical Director (Wales) for Lifeblood: the Thrombosis Charity and chair of the All Wales Thromboprophylaxis Group.
Dr Noble is currently the coinvestigator for FRAGMATIC - a multicentre randomised control trial to investigate the impact of dalteparin on survival in lung cancer.
Dr Noble added: “By raising the profile of an area of research which gets a bad press because people wrongly associate lung cancer with smoking - we hope to achieve the survival rates that other cancers have already attained. It’s an area in need of funding and this initiative will help us do this.”
Further information on the climb or to donate to the appeal, visit: www.captainsclimb.com/
