Sister inspired Rustington man Joel’s greatest achievement

Sheer exhaustion threatened the latest and most gruelling in a series of challenges undertaken by a former Rustington man in aid of the care home looking after his disabled sister.

But Joel Markham, formerly of Sea Lane, succeeded in climbing Tanzania’s 19,340ft Mount Kilimanjaro, the world’s largest free-standing mountain, to raise £3,500 for Rustington’s St Bridget’s home, where his sister Zoë has lived for the past 17 years.

Joel, who in the past has tackled the Great South Run and London Marathon for Leonard Cheshire Disability – the charity which runs St Bridget’s – admitted that his latest adventure was the most exhausting yet and had pushed him to the very limits of his endurance.

“It’s a real out-of-body experience,” he said.

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“You’re climbing these phenomenal heights; the air is getting thinner and your heart is pounding harder with each step.

“That’s when you realise you’ve only taken a couple of strides and that you’ve still got a mountain to climb.

“At one point I collapsed with exhaustion. But finally reaching the summit was incredible. You could see the curvature of the earth and the conditions were perfect – but it was pretty short-lived as we still had to get back down.”

Joel’s mum, Christine, of Sea Road, said: “We’re incredibly proud of Joel’s achievement.

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“He is a very determined young man and a loving brother and I know everyone at St Bridget’s are overwhelmed by his fund-raising.”

For more on Joel’s achievement read this week’s Gazette (Thursday, October 25).

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