A chicken farmer from Baxenden climbed 18,000 feet above sea level to reach Everest base camp with his best friend.
Paul Starkie and childhood pal Neil Sarsfield raised £2,100 for the British Heart Foundation after completing the 10-day trek.
Neil is originally from Huncoat but now lives in Canada, meaning Paul needed to meet up with his friend in Kathmandu before making their way over to Nepal for the challenge.
Paul, 44, said: “It was a wonderful experience, but four days into the trip I experienced altitude sickness and it was harder than I expected. I’ve never experienced headaches like it – it was like someone sticking your head in a vice and beating it with a stick. I also had numbness in my fingers. And the cold at night was unbelievable. It went down to minus 10.”
He did enjoy the scenery however. He said: “You get a different backdrop every day. We spent about seven hours trekking every day. I did a lot of walking and cycling in preparation but it was still very tough.”
Paul, who lives at Back Lane, decided to complete the challenge to raise money for the British Heart Foundation after losing his father-in-law Peter Ashburner to heart failure in 2007. He added: “I?raised twice as much as I’d hoped to so I’m really pleased with that.”
To donate to Paul’s appeal visit justgiving.com/poultrypaul
