EVEREST MOTIVATES RECOVERY
SIX months ago Lauren Neuss was recovering from a debilitating back injury.
Now she’s about to climb to Mount Everest base camp, joining burns victim Turia Pitt on an 18-day trek.
The 37-year-old mother of two was a keen long-distance runner when an innocuous injury at her family business led a disc in her back to bulge and break off in July last year.
Ms Neuss lost feeling in her left leg and had surgery in October. Confined to a lengthy period of rehabilitation the Benowa local said she needed a target to keep her on track.
So when she saw motivational speaker, author and burns victim Turia Pitt was leading a trek to Everest base camp to raise money for surgical not-for-profit group Interplast, she started training.
“I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t spent my money on this trek I wouldn’t be as good as I am,” she said.
“You can’t get half way up and go, ‘This is too hard’. I went to Mt Warning and I made it to the top. That was the test. My back was fine.”
Turia Pitt’s Everest trek runs from May 10-28.