NHS nurse's Everest trek for Severn Area Rescue Association

It's to raise vital funds for the volunteer Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) charity.

Pauline Burton, from Highley, works as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner in the Alexandra Hospital’s A&E department, as well as volunteering for the Severn Area Rescue Association – a volunteer lifeboat and inland search and rescue charity – which her high altitude expedition is fundraising in aid of.

The epic trek in March will cover around 130km including nearly 9,000 feet of elevation gain.

Pauline, aged 54, has been training for the challenge for almost a year in order to be fit and ready for the physical exertions of mountain walking in the Himalayas, including taking part in VO2 max testing to check the amount of oxygen she uses during exercise.

Pauline out in a rescue powerboat (Image: Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust)

After reaching Everest Base Camp, where March temperatures can often reach -25 degrees Celsius, Pauline plans to summit Kala Patthar – a mountain 18,204ft above sea level where you can watch the sunrise over the summit of Mount Everest.

Pauline volunteers as an operational crew member with the SARA charity in her free time, based at the Kidderminster Fire Station, just one of seven lifeboat and inland rescue stations located along the length of the River Severn.  Those who would like to donate to the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) can visit Pauline's JustGiving page.

She holds a powerboat licence and is qualified in swift water rescue, entering high flood water to rescue people.

Last year the SARA charity was called out more than 110 times, providing inshore lifeboat, cliff, mud and flood rescue, as well as land searches across areas covering more than 20,000 square kilometres.