Jeanette re-acclimatises to work after Everest

16 April 2019

JEANETTE Pickup is re-acclimatising to work back at Leek United after the challenge of a lifetime on the world’s highest mountain…

Customer Assistant Jeanette has just returned from a gruelling but rewarding trek to reach Everest Base Camp – in aid of the hospital unit that saved her life.

She joined an expedition climbing up to seven hours a day, eventually reaching Base Camp at an altitude of 5,364 metres.

And after testing her mind and body to the limit, Jeanette has also reached the peak of personal fundraising – with almost £4,500 for the Acute Stroke Unit at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent.

In April 2016, the Unit treated Jeanette after she collapsed with a serious stroke at her home.

Since then, she has fought to regain her health, strength and fitness – and decided she wanted to challenge herself to the limit as a way of thanking the hospital for saving her.

“The trek was nothing short of life-changing – utterly amazing,” said Jeanette, 47, of Stockton Brook, Stoke-on-Trent. “To be climbing in sight of the ice boulders and glaciers, day after day, is something I’ll never forget.

During the expedition, one of Jeanette’s male companions had to be helicoptered off the mountain after developing a fever due to altitude sickness, but made a full recovery in a Lukla hospital.

“The trek certainly wasn’t without its extra challenges; the higher we got, the more basic the tea-rooms we stopped at became – and we were having to crack ice just to use the toilets…which were usually just holes in the floor!” said Jeanette.

“Having survived something that could have ended my life, I think I came out of my stroke mentally stronger. Now that I’ve achieved what I set out to do on Everest, I want to be able to say a final, proper ‘thank you’ to the hospital for the fact that I was there to do it all…”

Jeanette is still collecting donations via her special Virgin moneygiving page, and expects her final total to be around £4,500.
Leek United Operations Director John Kelly added: “Jeanette has taken ‘going the extra mile’ to the absolute extreme; we’re all tremendously proud of her and what she’s achieved.”

Jeanette is pictured (third from left) with fellow team members at Everest Base Camp.: