A five-man team from Glasgow has conquered Africa's highest mountain Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Bowel Cancer UK. The climbers, three surgeons, a doctor, and an investment banker, are all based in the city. The challenging 19,000ft ascent to the peak of Kilimanjaro, the world's fourth tallest mountain, was successfully achieved after six days.
The team is made up of Glasgow foot and ankle specialist Kalpesh Shah, cardiac surgeon Harekrishna Doshi, senior investment banker Gaurav Sharma, general practitioner Sandeep Sharma, and ophthalmic surgeon Manish Gupta. They set off for their expedition on August 2. Kalpesh, a consultant surgeon at the NHS Golden Jubilee hospital, revealed the motivation behind the expedition.
He said: "I am an orthopaedic surgeon working at NHS Golden Jubilee hospital. "Sometime around March this year I had come to know that a very close friend of mine was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer. "It was diagnosed late and it came as a shock to both of us.
"Back then I had conceived the idea of climbing Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for the screening programme of bowel cancer. "When I shared the idea with some close friends I found that we were like-minded both in spirit and enthusiasm." Explaining the challenges of this expedition, Kalpesh added: "Our hike to Kilimanjaro started on August 2 and we reached the summit after six long and arduous days' hike up the cold and hypoxic mountains.
"None of us slept well in the cold tents and that made the summ.