Ben Grant defies doctors to tackle Everest

Almost one year ago, advertising director Ben Grant he was left struggling to breathe and in need of major surgery after suffering two collapsed lungs.

Now, the 28-year-old has stunned doctors by climbing part of Mount Everest. Mr Grant undertook the expedition to raise money for lung research at the Heart Hospital, UCLH and Nightingale — a care home for older members of the Jewish community.

Chair of Young Nightingale, Mr Grant tells People: “My surgeon had previously climbed Everest and so this put the idea into my head. Some doctors had warned me not to do it but I wanted to.” The hardest part he says, was the breathing. “I have a shallow lung capacity and because of the lack of oxygen I would take 15 steps and then have to stop to get my breath back. The -25 degree temperature was also hard.”

Mr Grant, the founder of Addirect, spent two-and-a-half weeks climbing to the Everest base camp where there is 50 per cent less oxygen than at sea level. He climbed more than 19,000ft, raising £11, 000.