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Biomedical Scientist climbs virtual Mars peak

Biomedical Scientist climbs virtual Mars peak
23 May 2017
“What is life without challenge?”

Jayanta Brahma, a biomedical scientist at Leeds, has climbed the height of Olympus Mons, a peak on Mars and the tallest mountain in the solar system.

To do this he took on the bouldering wall at the Climbing Lab in Leeds; climbing over five thousand times to reach the virtual summit at 22,000 metres high.

 Here in his own words, is Jayanta’s account of his personal goal:

“What is life without challenge? Easy and peaceful I imagine. However, for so many life is a big challenge every day. Getting through each moment can be hard with our own difficulties and problems alone, as well as the worries pressing down upon our shoulders from those we care about.

Over the years I have seen so many lives around me afflicted by cancer. Some of those are still with us and sadly many of them have left us. Of the ones who lost their fight, the final battle was cancer in the brain. I would like to make some change, even if I only have little to offer, to help make this a less condemning tumour site, and to contribute to the well-being and quality of life of those affected. This is a real challenge. My chosen charity for this journey is the Brain Tumour Charity.

The gravity of these illnesses can easily send us into paralysing states of mental health. With life around us being often so difficult and that we generally care for others more than ourselves, it feels that our own mental health is neglected. We can become quite ill but remain in denial or do not realise.”

 

The importance of maintaining positive mental health

“The second awareness issue of my challenge is of mental health and of the importance of maintaining it. My personal mental health journey is documented in a short film that is waiting to be completed and will be published on my website in time should you wish to learn more. 

Exercise, especially rock climbing, has proven to be a great stress relief and aid to my own mental health. When this journey is over, I already have the next one planned. 

And so the challenge itself- life can be a mountain, but as I climb higher and closer to the top, I hope to show you that even the highest mountain can be conquered. And that the view from the top is magnificent.”

 

Reaching the summit

Having begun this challenge in September 2016, Jayanta admitted a few fears nearing the end of his climb, 

“The final part of the climb is on more difficult routes, to try and mimic the exposed top of a mountain. So there is slight fear that I could fall off and get hurt.

Another worry is that I might not reach my sponsorship total, which I have set at £1000.

The larger issues, I wouldn't say fear though, is that people will react negatively to the pieces I have to say about mental health. I have already experienced stigma just by talking about my mental health. However for every one person who has this irrational problem, at least five others have reached out to me in a positive way.”

 

On finishing the climb

"I imagine it was a bit dustier, hypoxic and cold over on Mars. But the sky was clear and the sun was smiling down warmly on me in Leeds as I reached the "top" of Olympus Mons.

It felt incredible to finally conquer the beast. The final drive was a very hard climbing session- my hands were ripped open and bleeding and my muscles tight and weary. But nothing was going to stop me completing the challenge.

From the top of the tallest peak we know of, I can look back over my journey. I can see the tiny specks of where I started, all the way up to how I ultimately defeated the "mountain". The metaphor of this challenge hopes to inspire people to stand up to their own and work towards overcoming adversity. I would like more people to learn of it and to donate to my causes- by perhaps contributing to the sponsorship and by talking about the important areas of concern I have raised throughout the journey.

I began this vertical climbing marathon several months ago, feeling very alone. How does it feel to stand at the top of the Solar System? A lot less lonely than you might think."

To read more about Jayanta’s progress, see his Facebook page. You can also donate to the brain tumour charity

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