A West Sussex man has set himself the challenge of trekking to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal to raise funds for Diabetes UK.
James Nicholls, 29, who lives in Yapton, near Arundel, West Sussex, and works for the South Downs National Park, was diagnosed with diabetes in November 2021.
He has a type of diabetes called latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, or LADA for short. LADA has features of type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Some aspects of it are more like type 1 diabetes, while others, such as its slow presentation, can appear more like type 2 diabetes. It’s sometimes called type 1.5 diabetes or type 1½ diabetes.
LADA is not actually classified as a separate type of diabetes at the moment but medical research is ongoing to try and pinpoint exactly what differentiates it from type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
James said of his diagnosis: "The first blood test I did was just on the off-chance and I was a bit surprised that it came back with a high reading. I went to the GP and was diagnosed as having prediabetes and then, just a few months later, having diabetes.
"It was a bit of a shock. There is diabetes in my wife’s family but none in mine so although I know about the condition I wasn’t expecting to have it myself.
“However, I think I have adjusted well. My blood glucose levels still fluctuate but my most recent blood tests have been reassuring."
Everest Base Camp challenge
James, who previously ran the Brighton Marathon for Diabetes UK, tries to look after his body as well as he can, and says he’ll be doing a lot of walking in training for the trek in the coming months.
“The Everest Base Camp trek, which is booked for November this year, is 80 miles and will take around 13 days, with 5,364 metres of ascent in very cold conditions.”
Jill Steaton, South East Coast and London Head of Diabetes UK, said: "James has already been a wonderful fundraiser for us and we are very grateful and impressed that he has set himself this difficult challenge.”
