A British dad tragically died while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro on the "trip of a lifetime", a coroner has concluded. Gerrard Kennedy travelled to Tanzania on February 17 last year, as part of a group trip organised by Adventure Code UK, a company which runs guided mountain hikes in the UK and overseas. But the dad-of-two, who was a ship manager at Cammell Laird Shipyard, sadly died after he developed severe altitude sickness during the hike.
The 41-year-old was described as an "extremely fit and active" man who enjoyed running, hiking and trekking - and didn't have any known health problems. An inquest held at the Gerard Majella Courthouse in Liverpool yesterday heard that Gerrard was among 14 people who participated in the hike.
Among the witnesses at the inquest were Thomas Code and Christopher English, owners of Adventure Code UK. The inquest heard the company used the services of Trekking Tanzania, a local firm, to guide the group on an eight-day hike of Mount Kilimanjaro. The local firm was led by a guide called Nelson, who was said to have over a decade of experience in leading expeditions.
Between 40 to 50 people formed Nelson's support crew of guides, porters and chefs on the expedition, the inquest was told. All the guides were accredited as internationally-recognised "Wilderness First Responders", the Liverpool Echo reported. Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest peak and its summit is 5,895 metres above sea level. Given the dangers of hiking at high altitude, the group were given nightly medical checks in which readings were taken using a pulse oximeter, which measures the amount of oxygen in the blood. Gerrard had taken the precaution of visiting his GP prior to travel and was prescribed Diamox, which helps prevent altitude sickness.
