Man climbs dangerous peaks in fundraising effort for hospital which saved his life
A man whose life was saved by intensive care staff after suffering from a severe illness has scaled three of Britain's most dangerous climbs to raise funds for the unit.
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Simon Burke managed to climb the notorious 3,000-feet ascent “knife-edged” Crib Goch, the 3,494-feet Garnedd Ugain, the second highest-peak in Wales, followed by the tallest, Snowdon (3,558-feet) to raise £3,000 for Wolverhampton’s Integrated Critical Care Unit (ICCU).
The 48-year-old father of two from Bradmore in Wolverhampton had been placed in a coma for 10 days with sepsis group A streptococcal invasive tropical toxic syndrome and spent two weeks on a ventilator, 39 days in New Cross Hospital and lost nearly three stone.
Group A streptococcus, also called group A strep, is a bacterium that can cause many different infections, including sepsis, a life-threatening emergency, with his wife Lucie, who is supervisor at the café in the Heart and Lung Centre at New Cross Hospital, mounted a daily bedside vigil, prepared for the worst.
Mr Burke raised the money for the ICCU, through The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) Charity, after the fight to save his life, where he said was at death's door.
He said: “There were a few days when I wasn’t expected to pull through.
“A couple of times, my wife was told to come into hospital to put my affairs in order.
“The ICCU staff were fantastic as one nurse always phoned Lucie when she wasn’t at my bedside."
Mr Burke said he had become ill over a weekend, so stayed in bed on the Monday morning.
He said: “My wife woke me up on the Tuesday and I had a solid rash on my side which had turned yellow.
"I managed to walk to A&E, but by 4pm I was on life support.”
Admitted on November 28, 2023, Mr Burke spent around three weeks on ICCU before being moved to Ward B8 and was allowed home on January 5. He has been told it will take 12 to 18months before he makes a full recovery.
He said: "I had a cut open up on my leg, my leg started to blister and my whole body swelled up like a balloon.
“I didn’t walk on my own again until Christmas Eve.
He later said that in hospital, he had the idea of giving back.
He said: "“I kept dreaming about walking, so I thought about doing a fundraising walk because the ICCU staff saved my life.
“I didn’t think walking up Snowdon was enough, so I thought I needed to make it more dangerous, so I decided to do Crib Gogh.
"They call it Razor Edge as there are sheer drops on either side.”
Gerardine Hardisty, matron at the ICCU, said: “Well done and a huge thank you to Simon.
"What an outstanding effort from Simon after all he has been through.”
Amanda Winwood, RWT charity development manager, said: “Simon has done brilliantly to undertake this gruelling walk and raise this money after all he has been through.
"Well done and thank you.”
People can donate to Mr Burke's fund by going to gofundme.com/f/qnqkw-intensive-care-unit-new-cross-hospital?qid=c26fce59b8caa5f1564b618bb1d4f443
