Rod conquered by Kilimanjaro

He was forced to quit because of hallucination and illness caused by high altitude and turned back just short of the summit.

It's an obvious disappointment for the campaigner who has travelled the world to pursue new challenges but Rod still received a certificate of summiting because he came so near.

He commented: "Sadly I did not get to the top as I suffered severe AMS (acute mountain sickness). I actually had a cerebral edema.

"This caused me to have quite bizarre hallucinations. I believed that there were brick walls and hand rails appearing beside me on the mountain. The decision was made to get me down and to get me down fast.

"I had to retreat back to Hurombo camp (1800m lower) as the illness known as HACE can be fatal. I did however, get to within 150m of the summit, (5500m), so I was given my certificate of summiting.

"I very much regret that I got so close, but did not completely succeed, but I would like to let people know how hard, both physically and emotionally climbing Kilimanjaro is.

"Of my team mates, two others had to come down due to extreme fatigue. Another collapsed on the way down and had to be stretchered off, and another passed out but made it down to base camp only to pass out again at Hurombo camp.

"All of these people were heroes in my eyes."

The 56 year old - he celebrated his birthday on Wednesday - is now back home in St Leonards although not yet returned to work in Western Road.

He has been given the all-clear by his GP having suffered problems with neck ache and mild headache since the climb and will have an eye test to check for internal bleeding.

Having set out at midnight for the climb towards the summit by dawn Rod started noticing things out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned round they were not there.

"My doctor said this was because of oxygen starvation. It starts that way, turns into tunnel vision, and then you got into a coma."

He said he felt "utterly" disappointed by not reaching the top but told the rest of his team that he had dedicated the challenge to the memory of friend and volunteer Jill Allen who died last year from cancer.

They were so moved by this personal inspiration that they all held the photograph of Jill and called out to her from the mountainside.

"It was a very emotional moment," said Rod.

"We all held up this photograph and waved up to Jill and said - Hi Jill! If anything, I will always remember that. Afterwards we were all hugging each other."