Community / ‘This was meant to be’: fate delivers poignant finish to Anita’s Everest fundraiser
She has raised over £7,500 for Ability Shetland in honour of her youngest grandson
“You canna always choose your journeys in life, sometimes your journeys are chosen for you.”
When determined charity fundraiser Anita Georgeson set off to Nepal to conquer Everest base camp last month, she did not expect to have an even more poignant experience.
Georgeson – who lost her son Stevie last year – was forced to abandon her Everest mission due to altitude sickness with the finish line not far from sight.
But instead she was offered the chance to scale neighbouring Ama Dablam – which is known as the “mother and son mountain”.
With Georgeson there to raise vital funds for local charity Ability Shetland, who support Stevie’s son Vinnie, she said it had become the perfect ending to her journey.
“That, to me, was just meant to be,” she told Shetland News. “That was the one that was meant for me all along.
“I do believe in fate, and I do think that I was meant to do that mountain.
“I personally felt I was carrying Stevie with me in my heart – that moment was for him and me, and nobody else.”
Her remarkable endeavours have seen her raise over £7,500 for Ability Shetland, but she admitted to “mixed feelings” after returning back to Shetland from Nepal.
She is still undergoing blood tests after experiencing serious sickness before she could reach Everest base camp last month.
“It was harder than I had expected,” she admitted.
Despite being a seasoned climber, taking on and beating Kilimanjaro and the Dolomites in Italy before this quest, Georgeson said she found the relentless overnight freeze of Everest a challenge.
“The hardest bit was really that cold, you’d never imagined that cold that you were living in,” she said.
“Even when you were setting off in the morning you had all the layers on because you had frozen fingers and toes
“The temperature was about -19°C in the morning as you geed walking, so you were looking up going, ‘God, when is this sun coming out’.”
When it did appear the temperature rose rapidly, reaching 21°C, which meant the group had to strip layers back off again.Georgeson admitted she “canna mind Kilimanjaro being as cold as yun” but added that it was “all part of the experience”.
She took on the Everest base camp quest as a “bucket list” item, aiming to complete the journey in aid of Ability Shetland who had supported her youngest grandson – eight-year old Vinnie – following his autism diagnosis.
Despite having previous experience with altitude sickness on Kilimanjaro, she said it had crept up on her as they neared the end of their Everest mission.
“We got to the second last village and before I got in the door of the hotel it just hit me, I felt terrible.
“It was like the worst hangover ever, I just had so much pressure in my forehead.”
Georgeson said around 10 of the 25-strong group had by that point had to leave due to altitude sickness, with one succumbing as they reached the village of Lukla at the start of the journey.
Despite being told by the group’s doctor that they could wake him during the night if they felt ill, Georgeson said she “didna like to bother the poor man” and ignored it.
The next day, however, her blood oxygen saturation had dropped to just 62 per cent and efforts to improve it failed.
“The doctor told me, ‘if you had come to me in the middle of the night I would have given you oxygen and you would have been better’,” she said.
“He said, ‘we have to make a decision. It can be life-threatening if you continue’.”
Georgeson admitted it “would have been daft” to keep going, but added it had still been a difficult decision after months of preparing for the trip.
She had to go back down the mountain, but was “so poorly” that she struggled.
“I was like, ‘can you no get me a horse or a yak or something? Is there no taxis?’” she laughed.
She was told that she could scale nearby Amu Dablam, which she had grown curious about during the trek, if she wanted.
Georgeson said she had asked a Nepalese porter along the Everest trail what the mountain was called, to which he replied “Anita mountain” – before telling her its real name, and explaining it was called the “mother and son mountain”.
This is because one of the peaks “looks like it is hugging the other,” she explained.
Georgeson said she felt that it was “just meant to be” that she would scale Amu Dablam instead.
“You canna always choose your journeys in life, sometimes your journeys are chosen for you.
“This felt more poignant and more special to me. There was no crowds, I went up and it was just so beautiful, and peaceful, and it was just me.
“I got a lot more from climbing that mountain than I would have done from base camp Everest. It’s one of the top, treasured memories in my life.”
Back in Shetland now, Georgeson said she was stunned by the “incredible amount of money” – over £7,500 – which has been raised for Ability Shetland.
She joked that people must think “here she goes again” when she announces a charity fundraiser.
But she said she felt Ability Shetland were worth pushing people to donate money to.
“I do feel strongly about Ability Shetland, it’s a charity that does so much and is absolutely wonderful,” she said.
“I just go and do the trek – it’s everybody else that is just so giving.
“I’m so thankful to know so many kind people and it meant so much to me knowing so many were behind me every step of the way.
“Without such kindness we would never have reached the total we did.”
Ability Shetland team leader Stephanie Bain said Georgeson had done “an incredible thing” for them.
“Putting herself completely out of her comfort zone, not knowing how she would manage such a feat, to benefit others is really something,” she said,
“Anita has seen first-hand the difference our support can make to children and their families, and I think she wanted to help us be able to continue to do that through our clubs and activities.
“What she raised in such a short space of time is phenomenal and really will make such a difference to what we can provide locally.
“This money will go towards our ASN Holiday Club which we are not fully funded for, but is our busiest service and continues to grow every year – we currently support over 100 children during the school holidays.
“Over £7,500 will ensure we can provide really fun activities, as well as helping us fund transport and staffing, during the potentially stressful holiday periods for families of children with ASN.
“We receive just over half our funding from grant making organisations, the rest comes from the local community, which is pretty incredible and very humbling.”
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