A PRESTATYN man has travelled half way across the world to give back a little closer to home.

Kobe Meecham, 20, has travelled to India to trek the foothills of the Himalayas on behalf of Glan Clwyd Hospital’s North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre.

Kobe was inspired to take the trek after the father of his girlfriend Becky Collins died in December 2017 of terminal lung cancer after receiving treatment in the hospital’s cancer and respiratory wards for more than six months.

Kobe said: “When Becky visited him, she noticed how overstretched the staff were and how little equipment such as wheelchairs they had within the facility even though many of the people couldn’t walk without assistance.

“When I was thinking about the trip, I felt it make sense to give back a little closer to home and put it directly into the hospital.”

As part of his journey Kobe, who works across the UK in merchandising for Costcutter stores, and three other colleagues, hiked 67km over five days, starting in Delhi and travelling for eight hours overnight just to reach base camp at Dharamshala on the edge of the Himalyas.

Before taking on the expedition, the inexperienced hiker prepared for the trip to the mountain range – which stretches from Pakistan to China and includes the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest - with two walks up Snowdon with his dogs.

However, where the summit of Snowdon reaches 3,560 feet, Kobe's journey saw him ascend to about three times that at 10,826 feet as part of an 18 man team.

Kobe added: “I chose Snowdon because it’s nearby and I didn’t really have any access to other training, but after going up it a couple of times, I thought to myself “That’s plenty”.

“But when we were driving in the taxi to Daramsala and saw the outline of the peaks through the clouds started asking myself “What have I done?”

“We had professional guides, and for the first couple of days at 10 to 12km a day it wasn’t actually too bad, but it was much steeper and difficult from then on.

“It was all worth it though, and when we reached the peak of the journey the view was miles better than Snowdon. I made sure to take as many pictures as possible.”

So far Kobe has raised £785, to donate to his campaign visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/kobe-meecham.