Leicestershire grandad, 76, with dodgy heart climbs Snowdon

Grandad Philip Gratrick might not be in the best of health but after having a pacemaker fitted to his heart he still felt tough enough to tackle the highest mountain in all of England and Wales. And this month he did.

Philip, 76, of Braunstone, Leicester, also has some serious problems with his knees but despite the pain and the rain he faced on his seven-hour ascent, he said he felt proud to have achieved it and glad to prove what older people are capable of.

He said: "I've got a dodgy heart so it was a bit precarious. People with dodgy hearts don't normally climb mountains and I'm sure not a lot of 76-year-old men do, either.

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"My daughter is 22 and she's a training instructor in the RAF and she went up Snowdown a few weeks earlier to see if it was suitable for me. She said it was too steep and I shouldn't do it - which made me even more determined."

Philip spent 10 years serving in the Grenadier Guards, which had taught him the art of stubborn persistence: "I came out in 1975 but they really teach you not to give in - you get that knocked into you."

He set of on his first ascent of Snowdon for 35 years at about 6am on Tuesday, June 11. He said: "I'd got to my hotel at the bottom of the mountain the day before and I got up early and wrapped my knees with loads of bandages and lots of tape.

"I've tried all the posh things and none of them work as well as that."

For the first three of four hours the rain came down, which made for a miserable walk and also created an extra hazard. Philip came across a couple on the mountain in need of rescue.

He said: "She must have been in her 40s and she had slipped on the wet rock and her foot was twisted right around. She was in agony.

"All the way up it's extreme. It's really hard work. And seeing her ankle really turned me over. I couldn't do anything for them so I left them waiting for the mountain rescue.

"I was determined and if, for some reason, I hadn't made it I would have gone back to the hotel and tried again the next morning."

After taking seven hours to get to the summit, he was advised to stay away from the very top. He said: "I met a lot lovely people and they were all giving me encouragement.

"When I got near the top a man said I shouldn't go on the summit because it was too windy. But I told him I didn't come all that way for nothing.

"I got to the top and he came over and took my picture for me." When asked if the climb had been fun he said: "No. It wasn't fun.

"I took a chance and I'm just so proud to have done it with no heart attacks and no accidents. I wanted to show that getting a pacemaker isn't the end of your life.

"If you push yourself you can do anything. I want people to know that. Although you're probably not meant to climb a mountain."