BRAVE Jess Harris is set to scale her very own Everest later this month with a walk to the top of Clent Hills.

It's a climb that Jess and her family would have never thought possible after the 22-year-old medical student from Holy Cross was diagnosed with a severe brain tumour seven years ago.

Jess, who was just 15 at the time, was on an orchestral tour of China when she suffered a seizure. A resulting scan revealed the tumour which Jess has been battling against ever since.

She was forced to take half a year off school but still continued to pursue her life-long dream of becoming a doctor.

Jess obtained a place at Bristol University where she is studying medicine.

But after her first year at Bristol, the tumour reared its ugly head again and Jess was forced to undergo two bouts of surgery.

She fell ill again after her second year at Bristol and Jess admitted: "I'm a very stubborn person, but even I thought at this point I might die.

"Everything was going wrong. I was having a couple of seizure's a week and I'd developed a few long term side effects. It was a very worrying time.

"That was when my dad, Rob, came up with the idea of doing a number of climbs to reach the equivalent height of Mount Everest as a way of giving me something to focus on.

"We had to climb a total of 29, 029 feet.

"Initially we started with a number of small hills and things didn't go too well at first.

"Our first walk up the Worcester Beacon at Malvern resulted with me having a seizure when we got to the top.

"The hardest challenge was the climb up Mount Snowdon was really difficult, especially as I suffered with double vision for most of the way.

"Since then, we've gone onto climb the Three Peaks and other hills around Britain. It's been quite a journey."

Jess, a former pupil at Clent First School, Haybridge and King Edward VI College, will now apply the finishing touch to her epic adventure on Sunday, August 27, when together with family and friends, she attempts to complete the last leg by climbing up the remaining 650 feet of her challenge over Walton Hill and then Clent, when she hopes plenty of people will turn out and accompany her to mark the occasion.

She said: "I've got family and friends coming from all over the country for the event and I've also put an appeal in the local Clent Parish magazine for people to join me in a celebration.

"We will be meeting at the Bell and Cross car park for 1pm before attempting the climb.

"The tumour is under control now and I'm due to return to Bristol University in September. I cannot wait. I've always wanted to be a doctor, ever since I was a small child and the prospect of resuming my studies really excites me.

"The biggest downside from the tumour is the fact I cannot play my beloved oboe anymore. I really miss it and throughout my illness, the prospect of not playing again upset me more than anything else."

Jess has also used her challenge to raise funds for the Giles Trust charity which is based at the QE hospital in Birmingham.

She has already raised over £3,500 and anyone who would like to contribute further can do so by going to justgiving.com/fundraising/everestchallenge2017