Former GOSH patient climbs Everest in the name of medical science

Nine-year-old Jack is one of 12 intrepid youngsters who made a remarkable contribution to medical science earlier this month.  A former patient at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Jack, accompanied by his father Lee, trekked to the foothills of Mount Everest as part of a major study that aims to improve treatments for intensive care patients.

Led by a team of researchers and doctors from UCL (University College London), Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and the University of Southampton, Xtreme Everest 2 took healthy children, aged eight to sixteen years, to an altitude of 3,500 metres, where they underwent rigorous testing to monitor their physiology in this harsh environment.

The research team will now use the data collated to further their investigation into how the human body adapts to low oxygen levels, and look for ways to apply this knowledge to help critically ill patients in intensive care.

Dr Mark Peters is the Consultant Intensivist at GOSH who led the children’s trek from Lukla to Namche Bazaar in Nepal. He explains: “Using the data gathered from these children, we will now try to address questions like: Is oxygen extracted more efficiently at altitude by the muscles? Does the muscle ‘learn’ and alter molecular pathways to become more efficient? We know that tissue dies when it doesn’t get enough oxygen, but we also know that too much oxygen can be damaging, so we hope our findings will help us to optimise the delivery of oxygen to patients in a critical condition.”

Lee, father of Jack, adds: “When the chance arose to give something back to medical science and experience a once in a lifetime trip, we had to sign up. We don't speak about it much, but my son Jack would probably not be alive today if it were not for the brilliant doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Jack was born with a condition that blocked his bowel. At a tender two months, he had a four-hour operation to remove a large chunk of his bowel that wasn't working. He has never looked back, and is now a healthy young boy.”

“Jack and I just hope that in some small way, our adventure will have contributed to the findings. For us it also closes a ten-year circle, and puts what happened to Jack when he was born into a new positive light. It’s certainly something we will talk about for the rest of our lives.”

More information on the Xtreme Everest 2 expedition can be found at www.xtreme-everest.co.uk

The children’s trek left on 27 March and returned on 12 April 2013. It formed part of the Xtreme Everest 2 expedition, where a larger group of over 150 adults have also been tested at a range of high altitudes. The previous trek in 2007 had nine children and was limited in what could be measured with instruments available at the time. The 2013 trek involved more sophisticated equipment with which to measure changes in the human body. More information on the trek can be found here.