West Sussex diabetic man plans epic Everest challenge for charity

James Nicholls, 29, who lives in Yapton and works for the South Downs National Park, was diagnosed with diabetes in November 2021. He has a type of diabetes called Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults, LADA for short.

James, who previously ran the Brighton Marathon for Diabetes UK, said: “The first test I did was just on the off-chance and I was a bit surprised that it came back with a high reading. I went to the GP and was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and then, just a few months later, diabetic. It was a bit of a shock. There is diabetes in my wife’s family but none in mine so although I know about the condition I wasn’t expecting to have it myself. However, I think I have adjusted well. My blood glucose levels still fluctuate but my most recent blood tests have been reassuring. I try and look after my body as well as I can – and I’ll be doing a lot of walking in training for the trek in the coming months which will also help.

“The Everest Base Camp trek which is booked for November this year is 80 miles and will take around 13 days, with 5,364 metres of ascent in very cold conditions.”

Diabetes is a condition where your blood glucose (also known as sugar) level is too high because your body doesn’t make any, or enough of, a hormone called insulin. Or the insulin it makes doesn’t work properly. If not managed well, it can lead to devastating complications including sight loss, amputation, kidney failure and stroke.

LADA is a type of diabetes which seems to straddle type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Some aspects of it are more like type 1, while others, such as its slow presentation, can appear more like type 2. It’s sometimes called type 1.5 diabetes or type 1½ diabetes.

It’s not actually classified as a separate type of diabetes at the moment but medical research is ongoing to try and pinpoint exactly what differentiates it from type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Jill Steaton, South East Coast and London Head of Diabetes UK, said: “James has already been a wonderful fundraiser for us and we are very grateful and impressed that he has set himself this difficult challenge.”

Visit James’ JustGiving page here.