An intrepid 51-year-old adventurer has climbed up and down the height of Mount Everest to raise cash for NHS heroes - in his own home.

Avid explorer Rob Ferguson, from Chorleywood, completed the mammoth 17,600m challenge by climbing his stairs non-stop for 24 hours.

He became the first person to climb up and down Everest at home by walking his flight of stairs 6,506 times.

Mr Ferguson was part of a 16-strong team due to fly out to Nepal to conquer the mountain later this month.

But when the trip was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, Mr Ferguson and two others from the team - Jenny Wordsworth and Lucy Aspden - decided to climb the height of Everest in their own homes.

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The group were fundraising for the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, which supports frontline NHS staff through physical and mental illness.

Mrs Wordsworth pulled out with injured achilles at the equivalent height of Camp 3 (6500m) and back down again.

Mrs Lucy withdrew from the challenge but managed to achieve a height of Basecamp and back down again (5,380m).

Watford Observer:

Rob Ferguson completed the challenge at home (photo SWNS)

But both took part in a conference call to cheer Mr Ferguson to the finish line of his gruelling isolation expedition, which he started at 7.15am on Thursday (April 9) and finished at 7.45am the following day.

Mr Ferguson said: "It was tough. Mentally it's really hard, but I'm fairly used to that with expeditions I have done in the past.

"I'm used to long days from my previous expeditions.

"A lot of NHS staff will be going through long, tough days and feel like they can't carry on.

"But they don't have a choice, they have a responsibility and they carry on.

"I had a choice, I could have stopped, but I wanted to finish the challenge."

Mr Ferguson would split his challenge up by briefly pausing every 50 flights of stairs for a drink and every 100 flights for an energy-boosting snack.

But he did not stop for more than a few moments at a time during his epic challenge.

Mr Ferguson added: "No achievement is made in isolation, anything that has ever been achieved has come from having support.

"And while I was in my own home, I was not alone.

"There were always people supporting me and having Lucy and Jenny on the call to cheer me on at the end was amazing.

"It would have been 20 times more difficult for me to finish it if I did not have that support."

The challenge has so far raised more £2,800 for the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund and Mr Ferguson believes the money will be vital for frontline NHS workers bravely tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Ferguson said: "Jenny's husband is a doctor and I am a qualified physiotherapist.

"I have been doing some work at a private hospital that has been converted to support the NHS.

"Jenny suggested we should raise money for the charity and we couldn't think of a worthier cause right now.

"There will be a lot of medical professionals who are physically or mentally unwell and it is a really worthwhile initiative to raise money for."

Mr Ferguson is no stranger to challenges having previously cycled from the US-Mexico border to the North American pole of inaccessibility.

He also recreated the 250mile escape route of operation gunnerside, a daring WWII raid, on foot across Norway to Sweden.

Visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tenzing-jenny-matt-rob to donate to the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund.