Veterans Minister Al Carns is ‘one and done’ with Mt Everest.
The 45-year-old MP for Birmingham Selly Oak said his record-breaking mission last month to the world’s highest peak took its toll on his body.
He said he returned home to the UK “in clip” – swollen ankles, a swollen face and a fever.
Record: London-Everest-London is six and a half days
Carns completed ‘Mission Everest’ – London to Everest and back – in six and a half days, crushing the previous record of 21 days.
He joined three former Special Forces colleagues on the endeavour, which required months of gruelling hypoxic training and xenon gas to boost red blood cell-production. The four did it to raise funds for veterans’ charities.
‘Swollen face, swollen ankles, a fever’
“When I got back, my body was in clip (disrepair), I was short on fluid, my face was swollen, my ankles were swollen, I had a fever of some sort,” Carns, a former Royal Marines commando, told WM News.
“It took me about five or six days to sort it out. But I’m on the mend now. It’s moving the right direction. I feel really good.”
Back to Everest? ‘Absolutely not’
Asked if he fancied returning to Nepal to attempt Mission Everest even faster, his answer was unequivocal: “Absolutely not.”
