SHE is facing a massive challenge.

Former pub landlady and baker Karen Carlin is campaigning for more awareness of the debilitating condition, vasculitis, that she is fighting.

And she is getting help from her daughter and her friend.

Physiotherapy student Sammi-Jo Carlin is climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland, hoping to raise awareness of the disease that has gripped her mum.

Joined by friend and fellow Huddersfield University student Marion Pulling the pair hope to also raise money for the charity Vasculitis UK.

Karen suffers from Churg Strauss syndrome, a form of Vasculitis that only affects one in 1.3million people.

CSS is an auto-immune condition, which means the body turns on itself – white blood cells called eosinophils become too numerous and attack the body’s healthy tissues.

Having always been a very active person, Karen, who owned the Bread Basket in Kirkheaton, is now unable to work and on some days does not even have the energy to do everyday jobs.

The mum-of-two, who was diag-nosed two years ago said: “I sold my bakery after 15 years and was delighted for some me-time.

“I got my dream job at Donaldson’s vet as a receptionist but after two days I got this awful pain, which went right through my stomach, it was piercing.

“From April to May 2010 doctors couldn’t work out what was wrong with me.

“All the tests were done for run-of-the-mill things and even an endoscopy came back negative.

“The disease turned out to be in my blood, which is why these weren’t showing up.

“In June, it attacked my heart and I suffered a heart attack.

“I had the heart attack because CSS has begun to attack my nerve endings.”

Karen, 48, of Kirkheaton, has been left with permanent nerve damage to her left hand and right leg.

She also has problems with nerve endings in both her feet and her leg.

To combat the disease she underwent chemotherapy and now takes steroids and immunosuppressants.

She said: “It is a horrible debilitating disease that attacks you in so many ways.

“It wipes you out and leaves you so fatigued; I suffer cramps most days.

“I didn’t take a week off for six years when I ran my own business and was so used to having so much energy and always being busy.

“I am so proud of Sammi-Jo and Marion and am grateful that they are raising awareness about this disease.

“The difficulty is it differs from person to person and nobody really understands it because it is so unheard of.

“This means that sometimes you do feel so isolated like nobody knows what you’re going through.”

Karen, who used to run pubs with her husband Mick, including The Spotted Cow in Salendine Nook and The Rose and Crown in Almondbury, turned to Vasculitis UK for support.

Sammi-Jo, 23, and Marion, 25, will be driving to Ben Nevis, which is the highest mountain in the UK, on May 23, to complete their two-day challenge.

Sammi-Jo said: “We will drive up to the Highlands and then it’s around a 14 to 15 mile trek.

“We have to carry special survival kits, as Ben Nevis pretty much always has snow on it.

“This condition affects the whole family.

“We have seen mum go from a busy woman with her own business to a woman that can’t work and who struggles with day-to-day activities.

“My sister Stephanie, would be joining us but she has just had an operation.

“We hope that people will help the charity that has offered my mum such great support.”

To donate or to find out more visit www.justgiving.com/Samantha-Carlin0