Former Covid-19 patient climbs Mount Snowdon to raise £42,000

A former Covid-19 patient who was treated at Nottingham Hospitals has climbed Mount Snowdon with his brothers and friends, and raised almost £42,000 to thank NHS staff for their care.

Sanjeev Sharma was placed in an induced coma and on a ventilator after contracting the virus at the start of the pandemic. Family members say their lives stood still as Sanjeev fought for his life in the Intensive Care Unit.

After coming out of his coma, Sanjeev had to learn to walk again, and is still suffering with fatigue more than a year later.

Fundraising efforts

Just months after being discharged from hospital, Sanjeev and a group of his brothers and friends took on the challenge of climbing Mount Snowdon, to thank the team of NHS workers at Nottingham Hospitals who saved his life.

Sanjeev, along with his brothers Chandan and Raj Sharma, and friends Sundeep Soor, Inderjit Singh and Pawan Kumar, raised a phenomenal £41,887.

The group attended a special presentation at Nottingham Hospitals Charity and 24 June and handed over their donation to staff at the Charity. Sanjeev was also reunited with some of the nurses who helped care for him, and said the care he received at Nottingham’s hospitals was “absolutely outstanding”.

Nigel Gregory, Deputy Chief Executive of Nottingham Hospitals Charity, said: “Sanjeev and his friends and family have raised a phenomenal amount of money to thank staff at the hospital for their care. Sanjeev is an incredible man for taking on such a huge challenge after being hospitalised with Covid-19, and we’re so pleased to see him and his friends and family here today. 

“The money that the Snowdon team have raised will make a huge difference here at Nottingham Hospitals. The money will support three areas – the first is our Long Covid Research Appeal, which is now extremely close to its £50,000 target, and which will help fund research into the best treatments for patients suffering from this condition. The second area is our respiratory department, which has taken such good care of Sanjeev and others like him during the pandemic. And the third is to support staff at our hospitals as they recover from what has been an extremely challenging year.

“On behalf of everyone at Nottingham Hospitals Charity and Nottingham Hospitals, I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ and ‘well done’ to Sanjeev, Chandan, Rajesh, Sundeep, Indi and Pawan for taking on the Snowdon challenge and raising this incredible amount of money.”