Despite his guides' belief that he was too heavy to make it up Africa's highest mountain, Jim White, 41, of Stace Way, Pound Hill, set his 'big engine' to take him to the top, calling the whole experience 'awesome'.

He and his climbing buddy Colin Edwards, 45, of Fenchurch Avenue, Maidenbower, overcame altitude sickness to make the 19,341ft slog.

Jim said: "I jumped out of the Landrover and all the guides just fell about laughing. They couldn't believe that a big guy like me was trying to get up to the top of the mountain.

"Our leader was a guy called Emmanuel Washington and I did actually take him aside and say 'look, if I've bitten off more than I can chew, please tell me now'.

"But he was really funny, he patted me on the tummy and said 'You've got a big engine Jim, if we feed it we'll get to the top'."

But the mental challenges were just as tough as the physical ones.

Jim had to register his name, address and date of birth once he reached the main crater – a task that proved surprisingly difficult.
He said: "I wrote my name and then I wrote the address I had as a kid with my mum and dad.

"I had to write it again and I couldn't remember what it was, and because I couldn't remember I started crying. It's just amazing, you know why you're upset and you get a grip but it's quite strange."

When he made it to the summit Jim was given the nickname 'Simba' – Swahili for 'lion.'

Jim and Colin raise £3,500 for St George's Hospital and Cancer Research and Jim added that he still wanted to raise awareness of the disease he so narrowly escaped.

He said: "I do still feel passionate about it, it's only because we caught it so early that we've been able to walk away from it.

"If I saw someone in the street with a nasty looking mole I wouldn't think twice about saying 'mate have you got that checked?'

"They'd probably think I was a nutter but it's so important to be aware."