Owen ‘Everests’ for EAAA

We never fail to be amazed and humbled by the epic challenges our incredible supporters take on to help saves lives across the region by raising funds for East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA). So, when we caught up recently with Owen Jones, we listened in complete awe as he told us about his ‘Everesting’ virtual endurance cycle.

Owen, from Harwich, pledged to undertake a fundraising challenge after EAAA attended his Father-in-law, Paul, who suffered a severe heart attack in 2015. Paul survived after being airlifted by EAAA to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for life-saving treatment. Owen decided to honour his pledge by climbing his own mountain in September 2023.

“I didn’t want to do something I’d enjoy!” Owen laughs. “Even though I’m a keen cyclist, I chose ‘Everesting.’ It’s a virtual challenge which sees the participant cycle the height of their chosen mountain, in continuous repetitions, in one single activity. I decided on Alpe d'Huez with a total height of 29,000ft.”

With an indoor cycle connected to an app which showed the mountain and his progress on a screen, Owen commenced his 24-hour challenge at 5am on 30 September. The app and cycle even mimicked the resistance and gradient, so Owen was really put to the test.

“The first hour was fine and the rest was horrible!” Owen says. He made sure he took regular breaks throughout to take care of his physical and emotional health, but even the breaks proved challenging as the time progressed.

“I was hot, but I was shivering. There was a real low point when I felt sick and was unable to walk or stretch properly.”

But the motivation of others really helped to spur Owen on. His parents came over to watch a football match with him on TV to try to pass the time more quickly, and his best friend came over sat with him until his 5am finish. “Others really pushed me through.” Owen says.

Owen was also overwhelmed by the support and cheerleading from the virtual community who were following his challenge online.

“The virtual support was from people I’ve never even met. This meant a lot to me and so many of them said the right things at the right time to keep me going. I ‘hit the wall’ five times throughout the 24 hours where I felt I couldn’t carry on. When I was almost at the end, somebody I didn’t know stayed online for 20 minutes, as we edged closer to 5am, purely to encourage me to get to the finish line. It was incredible.”

Owen also had the support from his local newspaper, who ran an article to inspire support locally.

“When more people got to hear about the challenge and understood how brutal it was, I received a huge wave of support, which really boosted my fundraising.”

Owen has now raised over £1,300 to help save lives across the region.

“We believe that my father-in-law, Paul may not have survived without the help of the emergency services and EAAA. He is amazed that I’ve completed the Everesting challenge and, after benefitting from EAAA’s Aftercare support, we now all feel closer to the charity than ever before.”

Thank you to Owen for his incredible life-saving support.