A New South Wales man says he is considering another attempt at becoming the oldest person to paraglide from the summit of Mount Everest after his first try was thwarted by illness.
Ken Hutt spent six weeks climbing the mountain in Nepal last year before being forced to abandon the mission due to a chest infection, believed to be pneumonia.
"It was at the point where I was losing sleep at night-time, I would have a half-an-hour coughing fit and it got worse and worse and worse," he said.
"So I had to make a decision and I thought, 'Do I keep going and risk what possibly could have been the end of me?'
"The only thing I could do was abandon the expedition at that point."
The 62-year-old, from Berry on the state's South Coast, had embarked on the journey to raise awareness for Rotary's polio eradication program.
The highly infectious viral disease can cause paralysis and largely affects children under the age of five in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Mr Hutt said he was immensely proud of the efforts of his team members, who also raised $300,000 for the cause with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
"It was amazing around the world how much publicity and support we got," he said.
"Our main goal was to get that message out there, and we achieved that, so it wasn't all lost."
Second attempt
The former police rescue officer said he felt like he still had unfinished business and would continue training for another attempt.
"I always said when I went over there that we would only have one shot at it," he said.
"But I can understand why people keep returning to these mountains, they do bite you.
"Until we say categorically it is off, I'll keep going with the paraglide and fitness training and promoting polio as well."
