On 19th March 2016 I fell 200m (that's the length of 2 football pitches) while walking on Helvellyn in the Lake District. I broke my neck, kneecap, ankle, foot, shoulder, hand and most of my ribs. I also dislocated an ankle and shoulder and collapsed a lung.

Over the next 8hrs, the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team somehow managed to keep me alive on the side of the freezing cold mountain. As I lay there unconscious, bleeding heavily, they professionally went about their business.

It took 2 helicopters, 19 Patterdale Members and countless hours of medical and practical lifesaving experience to save my life. Without them I simply wouldn't be here.

After 2 years, 11 operations, 3 pints of blood, countless hours of physio and an awful lot of hard work, I was finally able to go back and visit the guys at Patterdale in May to say Hello and Thanks.

It was a very humbling day. 

The team are driven, dedicated, knowledgeable and seriously hardworking. The amount of their free time they give to others is incredible.

We also got to see just how much kit, equipment and vehicles are needed by the team. It's safe to say, none of this comes cheap. They receive no government funding at all.

Without donations, the Patterdale MRT would not exist and neither would I so in May I will be cycling to Paris with Simon, Geoff and Ben who were with me that day plus Matt and Olly who fancied a week off work.

We are aiming to raise as much money as possible and to put your generous donations into context, here are some costs that the team have to find in order to keep operating:

£15 - monthly hire of Oxygen cylinder.

£25 - high strength carabiner.

 £70 - climbing helmet.

£125 - 50m of climbing rope.

£170 - backpack for emergency medical kit.

£400 - casualty Hypothermia bag.

£1000 - defibrillator.

£5000 - annual insurance for base, vehicle and volunteers.

£9000 - auto-pulse automatic chest compression system.

Thank you in advance for helping this incredible group of people.

Joe Gilbert 

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-cumbria-35855383