Pueblo sisters conquer 23.7 miles hike to help grant wishes for kids battling cancer

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Hiking nearly 24 miles is no easy feat, but for two Pueblo sisters, it was a pretty easy challenge to take on after childhood cancer hit close to home.

In 2017, Kari Hribar's son, Hudson, was diagnosed with Leukemia at the age of seven.

"It was very difficult. He started with a rash and what we thought was a hernia, and his lymph nodes were swollen. I knew immediately that we needed to take him to Children’s to figure out what was going on," said Hribar.

Hudson would go through treatment for two and half years. In April 2019, he finally got to ring the bell, a sign of remission.

"It was fantastic," recalled Hribar.

On top of that, Hudson would get to go to Walt Disney World the very next day, a wish granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"He wanted to see Buzz Lightyear's house," said Hribar.

Through her son's journey, Kari found out about the Make-A-Wish Trailblaze Challenge. The mission, to embark on a 23.7-mile hike and raise money to grant wishes for other kids.

"I thought if kids can fight cancer, I can definitely hike for one day," said Hribar.

Hribar recruited her sister, Charlcy Romero, and the two conquered the day-long hike this past weekend.

"I will not lie, those last four miles all uphill were rough. We had to think about Hudson and lean on each other to say that if he can fight cancer and think of all the things that he went through, we can finish these four miles," said Hribar.

"I would do anything. Just being a nurse myself and seeing him go through that, I kind of knew what was going to happen, so just to see him be so strong and come out of it he was definitely our will to keep going," said Romero.

Hribar and Romero reached their fundraising goal, but still want to keep going. They need to raise 7,500 dollars to grant a full wish for a child. You can find out more here.