Twenty two year old Spencer Schachtel wanted the world to know that there are no boundaries placed on people like him who have type 1 diabetes, so he trekked to Mount Everest base camp along with seven other young people who have the disease just to prove it.

Spencer heard about the Mount Everest challenge in March, spent the next three months doing a lot of running and hiking to prepare, and left for Nepal in June. It was suggested that he not focus on building muscle mass during his training because the more muscle you have the more oxygen you need to consume and of course the higher you climb the less oxygen there is in the air.

He says that perhaps the most adventuresome part of the trip came as they flew from Kathmandu and landed at Lukla airport in the mountains to begin the trek. He compared the landing to the sights and sounds in old World War Two movies when planes are hit and dive into the ground. In this case however the landing was a lot softer and the plane really didn’t require brakes as the runway ran up hill – can you imagine that landing? And we think some of our Vancouver Island airports present a bit of a challenge.

The group raised over $70,000 prior to the trip and then chose to each pay all of their own expenses and donate the entire $70,000 to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

It took seven days of trekking to get to the base camp and three to get back down to Lukla. Both were difficult Spencer says. Climbing up is always difficult especially when you are hiking at an altitude where less oxygen is available with each day’s climb, and coming down was especially hard on the knees.

However the effort paid off in many ways.

First Spencer says prior to leaving for this trip, he really didn’t know many people who have type 1 diabetes so he enjoyed being able to share the two week adventure with seven others who are also living actively with the disease.

Second although he has always taken good care of himself, he says he is even more vigilant now to make sure that he tests his blood sugars three times a day and he’s just a little more careful with the foods he eats. In short it really is no big thing to have type 1 diabetes, he says.

Finally, this trip left him with a strong desire to do more to help the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and to be a role model for young children who have the disease he has had since he was two years old.

Spencer completed his criminology degree at Malaspina University-College last year and has applied to the RCMP. Assuming he is accepted, and why wouldn’t they want a young man like him, he will be an even stronger role model for young kids who share his diabetic challenge.