A husband and wife team, who are both GPs, have completed an amazing personal challenge by hiking to the Everest Base Camp to raise funds for The Kirkwood.
Dr Kumar Marimuthu and Dr Sharmala Ramalingam took on the mammoth challenge which took all their physical and mental strength to complete.
They battled high altitude and the elements on their climb and the mountain trek took a gruelling 13 days to complete. The couple hiked 5,364 metres up in altitude which equates to 17,598ft.
Dr Kumar, 56, is a GP in Lockwood while Sharmala, 52, is a GP in Mirfield. Both have served their communities for many years after qualifying as GPs at similar times.
On completing the challenge Kumar said: “We really enjoyed the trip. It was exciting but also challenging and that in essence is what we wanted. We also wanted to raise some much-needed cash for The Kirkwood.
“Some days were harder than others but we were very happy when we completed the challenge and the views from the base camp were spectacular.”
Dr Sharmala added: “We do a lot of trekking, we love it, so we had planned this trip for quite a while. It was a big challenge and we wanted to try and conquer it which we did.
“We trained well and took a number of precautions and medications with us as the altitude at the top was difficult to deal with.
“The base camp is about 5,500 metres above sea level, and the very tip of the mountain is about 8,800 metres, so we ended at the foot of the mountain. Even going up that high is some challenge and wasn’t easy at all.
“We have been to Ben Nevis, Mount Snowdon and the Yorkshire Three Peaks and so after doing the local ones we wanted to take on an even bigger challenge in hiking to the Everest base camp.”
The husband and wife team has so far raised over £2,400 for The Kirkwood and they both know how important The Kirkwood is to the Kirklees community.
Kumar said: “We are both local GPs and see on a regular basis the fantastic work The Kirkwood do, and so we wanted to do our bit to help support the charity and raise some funds for them.
“My wife works with The Kirkwood and is a lead on end of life care for the Kirklees CCG, so she works with The Kirkwood all the time. That is another reason why we wanted to do this challenge and raise some funds, because we feel part of The Kirkwood community.
“Palliative care is incredibly important and whilst I am a GP, I don’t know everything and so it is great that we can go to The Kirkwood and ask the questions we need answering and find out the right solutions for patients.”
Kumar added: “I wanted us to raise £1,000 at the start, so to raise much more than that is just fantastic.”
To donate to their page click HERE
