Coma survivor treks three mountains for hospital

While recovering, Simon Burke climbed Crib Goch, Garnedd Ugain and Snowdon

A father-of-two who survived being placed in a coma after getting sepsis has raised thousands of pounds for the nurses who saved his life in a mountaineering challenge.

Simon Burke, 48, was in a coma for 10 days, spent two weeks on a ventilator, 39 days in New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and lost nearly three stone.

“I was at death’s door,” he recalled.

Wanting to give back, while recovering after being discharged from hospital, he scaled Crib Goch, Garnedd Ugain and Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) in north Wales in one day.

After cutting his leg, the limb started to blister and my "whole body swelled up like a balloon,” Mr Burke said.

When his wife of 13 years, Lucie, 46, woke him up on 28 November last year, he had a solid rash on his side which had turned yellow and he was rushed to hospital.

By 16:00 GMT that day, he was on life support with sepsis group A streptococcal invasive tropical toxic syndrome.

Group A streptococcus, also called group A strep, is a bacterium that can cause many different infections, including sepsis, a life-threatening emergency.

'Dreamed of walking again'

"There were a few days when I wasn’t expected to pull through," said Mr Burke, who has recently been made redundant from his job as a stairlift engineer.

“I kept dreaming about walking,” he said. “So I thought about doing a fundraising walk because the ICCU staff saved my life.

“I didn’t think walking up Snowdon was enough, so I thought I needed to make it more dangerous, so I decided to do Crib Gogh. They call it Razor Edge – there are sheer drops on either side.”

The three peaks make up the Snowdon Horseshoe route.

He was discharged from hospital on 5 January, and has been told it will take 12 to 18 months before he makes a full recovery.

With the help of his friend Morgan Taylor, he completed the feat on 16 June - just six months after leaving hospital.

Before falling ill, Mr Burke had been a keen sports enthusiast and often did paddle boarding, canoeing and running.

So far, he has raised £3,000 for Wolverhampton’s Integrated Critical Care Unit.