Aberdeen man climbs to summit of Mount Everest for cancer charity
Kingswells sales rep scales mountain for Clan
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AN ABERDEEN man has climbed to the summit of Mount Everest for a North-east cancer charity.
But Allan Thomas, from Kingswells in Aberdeen, was one of the lucky ones to climb to the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest.
The 41-year-old, of Kingswells, made the eight-week trip to Mount Everest to raise money for Cancer Link Aberdeen and North (Clan) after his sister Leisa lost her partner Carol-Ann Donald to cancer aged just 28.
The pharmaceutical sales representative, of Kingswells, Aberdeen, who has raised around £34,000 of his £50,000 target, said the Mount Everest challenge had not been easy as the border from China was closed.
Allan had to cross into Nepal first to acclimatise before crossing the Tibetan Plateau to allow him to scale the north side of Mount Everest.
Allan said he was left stunned when he first saw the massive peak of Mount Everest, which around 3,000 people have scaled.
More than 200 people have died climbing Mount Everest and many of the bodies have not been recovered.
Allan said: “When you look at Mount Everest for the first time, you think it looks impossible and so daunting and there is no obvious way to get to the top.
“But at Base Camp One you suddenly become close to Mount Everest and you can see the north face shooting up in front of you.
“You feel very sick, you have a headache and feel lethargic.”
Allan’s Mount Everest challenge wasn’t without tragedy and a fellow climber, a 48-year-old man from the Czech Republic, died.
And a 29-year-old climber from Canada also died.
He was thought to have died from a lack of oxygen.
Allan also came across a Sherpa who had fallen and slid across an ice field.
The man climbing Mount Everest in front of Allan grabbed his hand and prevented him from plunging to his death.
Allan said: “When these things happen you realise how dangerous Mount Everest is.
“I just kept thinking about what Aberdeen’s Clan charity has done for me and my family and the tough times cancer sufferers have in their lives.
“The aim of the Mount Everest trip was to raise awareness of the Clan charity and that people can go there for support when they need it because we all need support at times.
“What I was doing was nothing compared to what cancer sufferers go through, physically and mentally.”
Allan said that once he reached the “death zone” of Mount Everest, above 8,000m, the biggest challenge was coming across dead bodies.
He said: “It’s a shock to see corpses, but it is people doing the thing they want to do and trying to meet the Mount Everest challenge and that is unfortunately what happens.”
Allan said reaching the summit of Mount Everest was amazing but was only half the challenge, as he suffered from swelling on the brain due to a lack of oxygen.
He collapsed but managed to complete the walk to the summit with the help of his climbing partner, Jack Sutcliffe.
Allan said at times he could only take two steps before having to stop due to exhaustion.
Allan is now recovering from his Mount Everest challenge at home, having lost five kilos, and is still suffering from the exertion of the climb to the summit.
He is now gearing up to climb Ben Nevis on June 17 along with his colleagues at GlaxoSmithKline.
Allan said: “I would encourage anyone who can raise money for the Aberdeen’s Clan charity to help.”
