A FIRST responder taught a heart start course from 4,720m up a mountain.

Martin Ford took on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

The Colchester First Responder joined a group of 19 for the climb, which took about six days.

It was treacherous weather and Martin ended up in hospital after taking ill while on the descent.

He said: “We left base camp at 4,720m at 10pm and reached the top peak at 5,895m at 7.10am.

“Then it was an absolute nightmare to get down because of the weather.

“It was the worst snow they had seen in 20 years. Trying to get down the mountain was a real problem, it was treacherous.

“If you have an accident there you are completely screwed.” They got back to base at about 1.15pm.

Martin said: “I had been at quite a high altitude for quite a long time.

“I was close to getting hypothermia, it was grim.

“When we got to base we had two hours to pack up all our gear and descend as it’s not safe to stay there.

“I was physically exhausted and was coughing up stuff on my lungs. I was taken to hospital to get checked out.”

Thankfully he was in hospital for less than 24 hours and recovered quickly.

He said the rest of the adventure was fantastic.

He said: “We did a heart start course for World Restart a Heart Day.

“I am a lead heart start instructor and I taught 12 mountain guides at 4,720m high.

“We have entered in for a world record for the highest restart a heart session.”

As practise, Martin joined his son Sam, eight, to climb Mount Toubkal in Morocco.

He said: “Kilimanjaro was the second mountain I have climbed and Morocco was actually harder to climb. It was just the weather conditions, but you can’t choose what weather you are going to get.”

Their journey started on October 10, with the climb starting the following day.

They reached the summit on October 17.

The group raised about £70,000 between them for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Martin-Ford7.