Shropshire couple climb weight loss mountain

Now Bruce Drummond, from Ellesmere, has been advised by his GP that he soon might be able to come off his Type 2 diabetes medication.

Mr Drummond now plans to climb Europe's third highest peak, Mount Malhacen, and Mount Kilimanjaro by the end of the year.

The 55-year-old said his weight loss came about as he started to find small tasks like getting off the sofa and walking "very difficult."

He said: "I simply got really fed up of being so fat.

"I became a barrister in 1992 and from then on, due to my sedentary lifestyle and pressure at work, I started to pile on the weight.

"At one point I was having to deal with the death of my sister and my father as well as my divorce, and to be honest I was just eating and drinking too much. I ballooned and then continued to get bigger and bigger.

"Having lived in the States, I came back to the UK and met my girlfriend, Sue, three and a half years ago.

"She put on two stone just being with me. I knew I needed to do something. I'd been into mountaineering when I was younger but now I found even walking from the car into Tesco difficult. My feet really hurt."

At his heaviest, Mr Drummond weighed 23-and-a-half stone and had a 54 inch waist.

He was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes five years ago and said he knew he had to make lifestyle changes.

Mr Drummond added: "I went on the Atkins diet at first and lost a stone in three weeks, but I didn't feel well on it.

"A friend who had also been really heavy but had lost lots of weight and just run a marathon told me to get myself down to Basecamp Fitness Centre in Ellesmere.

"Jamie and Danni Evans looked at my diet and asked me what my goal was. I told them my dream was to get back out on the hills again.

"They helped me turn that dream into a reality.

"In the past year, Sue and I have done loads of climbs including Snowdon, Tryfan, the Berwyn range in Snowdonia, Mam Tor in Derbyshire and Skiddaw in the Lake District.

"Even right at the beginning of my weight loss I started going out on the hills and setting myself a new challenge.

"Now to keep fit I run with a pack on and I do spinning and cross-training at the gym.

"One of the toughest things I've ever done was a 24-hour spinathon last November, I cycled 500km and I only got off three times to go to the bathroom."

Now the couple are planning to climb Mount Malhacen in Spain, the third highest peak in Europe in order to raise money for Diabetes UK.

Mr Drummond said: "I am raising money for Diabetes UK.

"It is the UK's leading diabetes charity and largest charitable funder of diabetes research.

"One day the charity says it believes its relentless search for a cure will end.

"But until then it will keep providing advice and information, bringing people with diabetes together and campaigning on the issues that are important to them."

He added: "Also at the end of this year we plan to climb Kilimanjaro."

But he has no plans to stop his efforts there.

He added: ""After that we might climb Aconcagua in Argentina and possibly Mount Rainier in Washington in 2016, and I want to run the Brighton marathon.

"The plan for 2017 is a lot of Alpine climbing with the eventual goal being Everest.

"I know it sounds out of reach but I really don't believe it is.

"I may or may not be able to achieve it but that is my goal and again I'd like to fundraise for Diabetes UK.

Mr Drummond said it is the thought of raising money which inspires him to get out and train.

"This goal is what gets me on the spin bike or out for a run in the pouring rain," he said.

"I am building my training and goals up into bigger and bigger challenges and this is the ultimate one.

"Sue weighed 16 stone at the beginning of all this but she's nearer 10 stone now.

"Sue doesn't have diabetes but she had been diagnosed with a fatty liver and she's managed to reverse that.

"It really has been life-affirming for both of us and has strengthened us as a couple. It's certainly been a year to remember."

To donate, go to: www.justgiving.com/Bruce-Drummond1