Shaun's on top of the world

Father-of-two, Shaun Hamblett (33) is a member of the St Helens Deaf Society and the Deaf Mountaineer Club. He was previously featured in the Star as he prepared for his marathon trek up Kilimanjaro, estimated at 19,340 ft high in Tanzania, and Mount Kenya in neighbouring Kenya, to raise money for the group.

And local companies, Pilkington and St Helens College, were so impressed by his gutsy determination that they were only too pleased to sponsor Shaun on the trip, which also included famous climbers Chris Bonnington and Doug Scott.

Shaun, a carpentry student at St Helens College, told the Star: "The entire trip lasted 18 days, climbing first up 16,355 ft to Point Lenana near the summit of Mount Kenya, and then right to the top of Kilimanjaro. At times it was very hard going, especially on the second leg because we had to trek through a jungle and by the time we had neared Kilimanjaro's summit, it was also very difficult to breathe because the air was so thin.

"One member of the party gave up and turned back and most of us suffered with headaches, sickness and in my case, diarrhoea."

After five exhausting days, Shaun and his companions finally reached Uhuru (Freedom) Peak at the summit of Kilimanjaro and the intrepid traveller has now raised the fantastic sum of £3,500 for the St Helens Deaf Society.

Shaun added: "I would like to thank both St Helens College and Pilkington for sponsoring me. I have been studying at the college for eight years now and they have always been very helpful."

The money Shaun has raised will now be used to buy special equipment aimed at assisting deaf people in daily life. If you would like to make a donation, you can contact the Deaf Society on St Helens 23887, or send cheques to St Helens Centre for the Deaf, 32/40 Dentons Green Lane, St Helens, WA10 6BQ.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.