A 52-YEAR-OLD Winsford trekker who lost both his parents before they turned sixty was the last man standing after scaling the peak of Mount Kilamanjaro.

Graham Broadhurst, 52, who is originally from Northwich but now lives in Winsford, recently conquered the Tanzanian volcanic mountain after a six-day trek.

Mount Kilamanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world at 5,895 metres, and many experienced trekkers count it among one of the most difficult mountains to scale.

“It’s the shortest trip you can do and also the hardest because it takes less time to acclimatise to the all,” Graham said.

“I was physically drained going up because it really hit me for six. I wasn’t sick going up but when I got back to base camp I was spewing my guts up.

“The real challenge is the last day when you get up at dawn to reach the summit. I kept thinking ‘when is it going to end’?

“I was determined but I didn’t ever think about giving up. One way or another I was going to make it to the top.”

During his 20s, Graham’s dad died a heart attack aged 59, and then some years later in 2001 his mum passed away from a brain tumour, also aged 59.

Their passing made Graham change his outlook on life and is what spurned him to take on Mount Kilamanjaro.

While Graham climbed the Annapurna Base Camp trek in 2010, he was a relatively inexperienced compared to some of the other members of the group.

Despite this, only two trekkers including Graham made it to the top, and only Graham made it back to the base camp unaided.

Graham, who raised £250 for St Luke’s Hospice, said: “I was with these two girls and at one point during the trek up they started crying and I thought ‘what are you crying for’?

“But when I reached the top I was in tears myself. I thought about my mum. She would have been proud of me and what I’d done. I just felt like id achieved something really huge.

“I’d like to think it will give my family some inspiration too, for their future.”