Peak performer Jonathan is taking on a mountainous challenge.

A lung cancer survivor from Axminster is to climb the highest mountain in Western Europe to raise money for charity.

Jonathan Piper, 42, a graphic designer, who was brought up in Knowle village, was diagnosed with the disease in July of 2009 and is being treated with a new cancer drug.

But, despite his battle, he is determined to climb the 15,782-foot high Mont Blanc on the French/Italian border.

A keen snowboarder, DJ and mountain climber, Jonathan, who lives with his partner Naomi in Chard Street, Axminster, has already scaled peaks in China and Borneo.

He said: “You always want to go onto the next challenge, to go that little bit higher, a little bit further.

“I was healthy and fit. I rarely drank alcohol and I watched my diet. Even now, it doesn’t make any sense to me.

“The stigma of lung cancer needs changing,” said Jonathan. “It is perceived to be a smoker’s disease, but I am a non-smoker and I still got it.”

He wants to raise as much as he can for the The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, the only charity dedicated solely to defeating lung cancer.

“It only gets three per cent of all cancer research funding - even though it claims 22 per cent of all lives lost through cancer.”

You can sponsor Jonathan, who has already raised �700, by going to www.justgiving.com/JonathanCPiper and you can visit his blog at: www.everydayamountain.blogspot.com