Intrepid brickie treks for charity

DESPITE CANCELLED FLIGHTS, LANDSLIDES AND A 34-HOUR NON-STOP BUS RIDE, INTREPID BRICKLAYER, JIMMY HARTILL RECENTLY ATTEMPTED TO FULFIL A LIFELONG AMBITION TO TAKE ON THE ULTIMATE GLACIER TREK TO BASE CAMP OF PAKISTAN’S K2, THE WORLD’S SECOND HIGHEST MOUNTAIN.

Not content with doing the trek as part of his bucket list, Jimmy also raised much needed funds for MYAWARE, a charity that supports people with the muscle wasting disease Myasthenia for which there is currently no known cure.  

Working in construction, Jimmy is no stranger to arduous tasks and inclement weather. Two years ago the active 61-year old from Blyth completed a trek to Everest’s base camp, however, reaching K2 is considered harder to achieve.  

Eventually hampered by waist deep snow, Jimmy, who has spent the past two years working on Wayside Point, Ellington, and some of his fellow trekkers, only managed to reach Broad Peak camp.  At just shy of 5,000m this is no mean feat and unlike Jimmy, many who set out to do it don’t reach it. 

Speaking about his endeavours he said:

“I enjoy trekking and having tackled Everest, I wanted to challenge myself further and thought as K2 is harder, I’d like to do that. Whilst we didn’t quite make it to base camp, I’m still delighted that I did the trek making it to Broad Peak and raising money for MYAWARE.  I hope that the money will go some way to help finding a cure in the future.”   

So far Jimmy has raised an impressive £770 with more money coming in from patrons at his local social club. 

Everyone at Ascent Homes is extremely proud of Jimmy and congratulate him on his achievement.