The Presidents' Snowdon Challenge

To raise funds for Rotary Foundation, Southmead Hospital and Local Charities supported by the Rotary Club of Westbury, the current President of Westbury Rotary, Jon Street, is going to attempt to trek to the summit of Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa.

He will be accompanied by another member of Rotary, taking pictures, and two members of the Inner Wheel of Westbury.

Not such a huge challenge it appears, people do this in shorts and trainers every day of the year.  There is more to this than meets the eye, as Jon explains.

My history is that of a member of the Armed Forces.  I served over 22 years in the Army and during that time competed at various levels in Orienteering, Cross Country running, Rugby, Alpine skiing (downhill), Nordic skiing (Xcountry), Biathlon (Nordic with a rifle), and even won cups in 10 pin bowling.

Once I left the Army I kept fit and completed many long-distance walks for various charities.  I have walked the length of the Isle of Wight (27 miles) 5 times for the Mountbatten Hospice, completed 6 Jurassic Challenge walks (32 miles along the Dorset coast) for Mind and climbed to Everest Base Camp twice in aid of Dorothy House and Help for Heroes.  I have climbed Snowdon 4 times and Ben Nevis once.

Yr Wyddfa doesn’t sound so daunting suddenly.  However…

In February of 2020, after suffering from altitude sickness during the last ascent to Everest Base Camp and coinciding with the onset of the Covid pandemic, I started to suffer from major respiratory problems and suspected cardiac issues which resulted in many, many trips to the local health centre, and three 999 calls as life became very poor.  Many scans were undertaken in various hospitals and I even spent a week in Bath RUH waiting for an angiogram.

I had gone from a very fit active person to someone who couldn’t climb a single flight of stairs without having to rest for a few minutes.

Eventually, after yet another trip in an ambulance, I was seen in Bath RUH by a respiratory Consultant who arranged for me to be referred to Southmead Hospital in Bristol. 

I was diagnosed with a particular form of asthma, eosinophilic asthma, which was a relief as I didn’t really know what was wrong up to then.  They altered the treatment and I am now on a strict regime of pills and injections which have turned my life around to certain extent.  It is unlikely that I will ever regain the level of fitness that I had previously but I am now considering the ascent of Yr Wyddfa, or Snowdon as a viable challenge.

It is fair to say that I have never attempted such a challenge without the firm belief that I will complete it.  Not so this one, I hope fervently that with preparation and support I can achieve it.  But nothing is certain.

My aim is to get as many people involved as I can in order to raise funds for the three wonderful charities that I have chosen.

I have a JustGiving page in order to make it easy and simple for people to donate generously.  The link is here  JUSTGIVING