Oldham man completes Everest climb during Ramadan fast

A mountain climber thought to be the first British Muslim to scale Mount Everest said his achievement had "still not sunk in yet".

Akke Rahman, from Oldham, began the trek while fasting for Ramadan, reaching the summit on 13 May.

It was an eventful mission after he fell down a crevasse and missed celebrating Eid with his family.

But he described the beauty when he reached the top of Everest as "just beyond".

Mr Rahman, who raised more than £80,000 for Orphans Shelter Foundation, began his ascent during Ramadan.

This meant he had been fasting for nearly two weeks before setting off and continued to do so on and off during the early days of his trek.

"It really, really slowed me down," he said.

"My mouth was so dry you could light a match on it."

While he said he did his best to continue his fasts, Mr Rahman ended up skipping some after he made it to base camp because he was so tired.

"I wasn't comfortable doing it to be honest with you, but my religion says life is more precious than death so you need to look after yourself first," he said.

From base camp, he began his first rotation, a climb partway up the mountain and back down to help acclimatise.

While returning to base camp, Mr Rahman said he slipped and fell into a crevasse and was left hanging by a safety line before being pulled to safety by Sherpas.

"I was hanging there for about 45 minutes thinking about all the negative thoughts and all the things that people told me about not coming," he said.

The challenges he faced - along with missing his family - had a strong effect on him.

"At one point I did think 'should I just pack it in?'" said Mr Rahman, who has three children.

"But I just thought about the reason why I'm here, all the training and everything that I've done, all these years they've been leading up to this and this is my chance.

"When I got to the summit, I sort of broke down because I had realised my dreams and ambition, and God had made my dreams come true."

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]