Dad and son raise £85k after Mount Everest feat

A father and son have raised £85,000 for a charity close to their hearts by climbing Mount Everest.

Paul and Aaron Anderson, from West Kirby, Merseyside, reached the Everest summit via the notorious north-east ridge in Tibet.

The pair took on the challenge to raise funds for Dementia UK in honour of Paul's mother and Aaron's grandmother, who has vascular dementia.

Paul said it was "surreal" when they got to the top of Everest and hoped the money raised would help fund two specialist nurses for the charity.

Paul said the Chinese Tibetan Mountain Association "seemed to think" they were the first father and son to accomplish the hard to access route from Tibet "which was really cool".

He said: "It was not something we'd thought about."

Aaron said: "We had no idea."

The pair said there were plenty of challenges due to the extreme altitude, which means climbers have to prepare the body to summit the mountain in stages from each camp.

Paul said: "You shock the body into producing more red blood cells to account for the lack of oxygen."

Aaron said there was "a lot of time sat in the tent with not much to do".

However, Paul said it was "like a dream" when they got to the top.

"It was surreal," he added.

Helen Green, an Admiral nurse at Dementia UK, praised the father and son for their incredible feat.

She said: "The fundraising will help support our national helpline and our national virtual clinics service.

"Through these services - that are totally reliant on donations - we are able to offer that support to families, regardless of their location and support them through that journey."

Paul said they have had dozens of messages from well wishers who are affected by dementia.

"It touches everybody," the 56-year-old added.

Aaron said he might be up for more adventure soon but his father had other ideas.

"I'm going to take a time-out and rest up," Paul said.

"I think I might be done on 8,000m peaks, but never say never."

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