In 2010 he was diagnosed with the degenerative eye condition retinitis pigmentosa, which means he has only 5 per cent peripheral vision and is unable to drive.
At a group dinner in January, Al met Australian Kevin Mansfield who was organising a trip to Everest with his Unforgettable Adventures company, and Al decided he wanted to join. Two other Phuketians, Kevin’s girlfriend Mayura Namarasa and George Lindsay were also on the trip.
“I like adventure and it gave me a goal to achieve,” Al said.
Being blind meant he was subjected to more challenges than most.
“It made it much harder. I was using twice the energy as the others because I was concentrating quite a lot and I was scared about falling down.
“I had to stop and then look around, I couldn’t walk and look.”
He walked with two poles to aid him, but was constantly kicking rocks as he couldn’t look down while he walked, meaning by the time the climb was finished he had lost several toenails.
Al fell down a couple of times, but during the treacherous parts, his fellow climbers would form a human chain downhill from him in case he fell.
“The guides and people around me were excellent. Everyone was completely supportive.”
Al is an active member of the Phuket Hash House Harriers and did regular hash runs as part of his training.
“They call me Lemming because I fall down a lot. One time I fell off a cliff – it was about a 10 metre drop.”
He would also walk a couple of times a week from Patong Beach to Paradise Beach for training.
“A lot of people stopped to offer me rides. I had to say to them that I’m training for Nepal. I think they felt sorry for me because it was so hot,” Al said with a laugh.
Originally from San Diego in the United States, where he worked as an engineer for 20 years, after he was diagnosed with the eye condition he was unable to drive, which meant he was no longer independent.
Having quit his job and taken sickness benefit, he decided to move to Patong where he is able to walk everywhere with ease.
“It’ll never go black,” said Al about his vision, “I’ll always have some light and dark vision. But probably by about 55 years it’ll start affecting my central vision. But I always think positive and I’m always optimistic.
“When we got to Base Camp, I was ecstatic to achieve that goal. Kevin was the one who empowered me to do this. Someone, other than me, had to believe in me that I could do it.”