Welsh firefighter to climb Earth’s highest mountain
Rhys Fitzgerald wants to raise awareness for mental health in fire services
A Welsh on-call firefighter is determined to climb Mount Everest in 2025 – in a full fire kit.
Rhys Fitzgerald is a Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service On-Call Firefighter at Kidwelly Fire Station and wants to raise mental health awareness.
He would also set a world record for being the first person to climb the 8.848m mountain in a fire kit.
He said: “Being outdoors has helped me massively over the years with my own mental health and I want to share those experiences with others and help people through their own challenges”.
As part of his training to climb the world’s highest mountain, he will be taking part in 10 y Fan, the Welsh Three Peaks and the Three Peaks Challenge, which includes the Scottish mountain Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles.
He has also recently finished a climb on Ama Dablam in Nepal – a mountain of about three quarters the height of Mount Everest.
Rhys has chosen three charities to support with the money he raises through his challenge:
- The Fire Fighters Charity, who provide support to serving and retired firefighters and their families
- Mind, who support people with mental health issues
- The Nimsdai Foundation, who work to clear rubbish left in the Himalayas by climbers
Representing the fire service by wearing his fire kit was a “no brainer” to him.
He has struggled with mental health issues himself over the last years and stressed the importance for everyone in the fire service to open up to colleagues, friends or family.
“Everyone thinks that firefighters are strong burly men, but quite often they bottle a lot up, so it’s just a matter of keeping your crew and neighbouring stations talking and how they feel with everything”, he added.
“I’ve found that escaping into the fresh air and exploring the outdoors really helps me and my hobby has now led me to pushing myself physically and mentally to spread awareness on mental health”.
Rhys is hoping to complete his challenge in spring 2025, but is reserving the option of pushing the trip back a year if he needs to.