Inspiring People

In 2009 my husband had a heart attack. It was not totally unexpected as his family had a history of hypercholesterolaemia. Even so it was a stressful time especially as we run a busy village pub and it was coming up to Christmas. However, with the help of some brilliant staff we made it through and Paul had a triple heart by pass the following January.

A heartfelt thank you

During his stay at Southampton General I was lucky enough to get a place in Heartbeat House, a very comfortable accommodation run by the charity Wessex Heartbeat and just outside of the hospital grounds. I had always felt that I wanted to give something back to them by way of a thank you. It was with this in mind that I decided to embark on a fund raising project which would culminate in my attempt to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

I had seen Kili several times while on safari in Kenya and had planned to climb it on another occasion which was thwarted by troubles in Kenya. Instead I went to Everest on that occasion - but that is another story. This time I was more determined than ever and keen to be as well prepared as possible. Any one who knows me would tell you that I could not be described as a fitness freak. Like many of us after 40 I have steadily put on weight and without some goal find it hard to motivate myself to exercise.

Motivated to get moving

In preparation for Kili I started walking the West Dorset coast, sometimes on the pebbly beach and sometimes up and down the steep coastal hills. I joined a training weekend in Snowdon where we climbed Mount Snowdon and learned techniques for walking up and down scree slopes, a must for the descent of Kili.

Physcially and mentally tough

There were 22 of us in the group making the attempt to climb Kili only two of which I had met at the Snowdon training. We ranged in age from 18 to 55 which made me third oldest in the group and I would have to say probably the least fit. I was however not the least determined. The walk was tough. Not just physically but mentally.

The days were long and after day one the temperature was cold within the tents (did I mention we were camping?) freezing at night. The terrain was varied going from tropical to surreal moon-like landscape with all kinds of weird and wonderful flora. Nothing, however could prepare us for the last day. We had walked for about 5 hours on the penultimate day to 4600m. We then had about 5 hours to prepare for the final climb, eat as much as we could and get some sleep in between.

The final trek started at 11pm that evening. It was very cold and we were all very tired. We joined the line of people making the final trek to the summit, a seemingly endless line of head torches shining out in the pitch black. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about giving up, but, with the help of the local guides and the rest of the group I made it to the top. Out of our group only four did not make it to the top. Tom, the oldest in the group but a very fit man has diabetes and the altitude was just too much for him so he and his wife descended early. Two young girls found the final trek too much and went back to camp early.

Am I glad I did it? Definitely. Would I do it again? Probably not.

Pam Middlemast

About the Author

Pam is 52 and runs Bredy House - www.bredyhouse.co.uk, a bed & breakfast in Bridport, and The Three Horseshoes www.three-horseshoes.com in Burton Bradstock.