When Ashok Thiruvengadam vowed to fundraise for the two Colchester schools attended by his sons, one may have expected a cycle ride, bake sale or perhaps a marathon to get people donating to the cause.

But Dr Thiruvengadam, who is an emergency physician at Ipswich Hospital, decided he was going to do something far more adventurous; instead, he decided to go on a 17-day high altitude trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp.

The result was not only that Dr Thiruvengadam raised more than £1,000 for Colchester Royal Grammar School and Queen Boudica Primary School – with donations still coming in – but it also meant Dr Thiruvengadam got to seize an opportunity which, for many of us, rarely comes round.

Along with his wife Sangeetha Ashok, Dr Thiruvengadam has two sons - Sanjay, in Year 5 at Queen Boudica Primary School and Ashwin, in Year 9 at Colchester Royal Grammar School.

Explaining his thinking behind the 17-day trek in Nepal, Dr Thiruvengadam said his exerts not only raised money, but could serve as inspiration to his sons that anything is possible if you truly commit yourself.

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He said: “I come from simple and humble beginnings, [although] I’ve never done any fundraising because I don’t know the means to go about doing it but I promised the school that I would do some sort of fundraising activity for them.

“My line of thinking was to do the London Marathon, but going to Everest Base Camp has always been on my bucket list.”

Although Dr Thiruvengadam regards himself as physically fit, it is almost impossible to prepare for the challenges of exertion at altitude.

Having started the trek at a town called Lukla, which is 9,337ft above sea level, Dr Thiruvengadam – along with eight others – climbed to the heights of 18,159ft, where wind chills can reach as low as -20°.

It is not, as Dr Thiruvengadam explains, a challenge to be underestimated.

“My purpose was to go ahead and do it quite easily, but at altitude, it’s a different ball game – training at sea level would not be sufficient because it’s not at altitude.

“I am physically fit but it was hard, I have to say really, really hard, and it was a real eye-opener.

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“The guides gave us seven to eight hours to complete our trek each day, and at an altitude of more than 4,000 metres, every step is literally a killer – we saw people being evacuated by helicopter due to altitude sickness.”

As well as the fundraising for schools and achieving of a lifetime goal, Dr Thiruvengadam hopes his trek to Everest base camp can also serve as an experience for his sons Ashwin and Sanjay to gain inspiration from.

“If you are tough enough, you can do it – that’s what I wanted to prove to my boys.

“That was one of my purposes - to say to my boys, ‘if you have a wish, work towards it and you will succeed.”

Dr Thiruvengadam was greeted with something of a hero’s welcome when he returned to the family home in Jade Gardens but news of his trek has been spread far wider than Colchester.

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Dr Thiruvengadam’s wife, Sangeetha, even sent newspaper clippings of the Gazette over to India, so their relatives could read about her husband’s exploits.

Dr Thiruvengadam was thankful for the support he received from his wife, given that many people, when told by their spouse that they want to climb 18,159ft, might warm to the idea so easily.

“My wife is a lovely person – she knows I’m adventurous and she knew I had a great interest to go to Everest, but even though I was in contact with her, she said she wouldn’t be happy until she saw me back in Heathrow Airport.”

He added: "Human beings are the most powerful people on earth, but you would be amazed how you think about yourself [after seeing Everest] – you are so humbled.

“You get to the ground reality of how small you are in such a mighty world – realising that was a fantastic experience.

“You learn how humble and hardworking people are in Nepal and how luxurious our lives are."

Donations to Dr Thiruvengadam's fundraiser can be made via: www.gofundme.com/f/pf7st-everest-base-camp-trek-fundraiser.