TV survivor in mountain drama

The winner of reality TV show Survivor escaped a genuine life-or-death drama on Africa’s highest mountain, it was revealed today.

Police officer Jonny Gibb and a fellow Survivor contestant were climbing 19,340ft Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania when they were struck by freak weather.

The detective constable and another contestant from the show, Belfast-born John Dalzell, 32, were among only nine of the 40-strong party to reach the top last week.

Three porters died from hypothermia during the ascent after the peak was engulfed by fog, rain, hailstones and cold.

Mr Gibb, who is on a two-year leave from Lothian and Borders Police, said: “Our guides were saying it was the worst weather they had seen in 10 years up there.

“One of the marines in our party couldn’t go any further when we were about an hour from the top because he felt like he was going to die, as he had altitude sickness.

“On top of the freezing cold and zero visibility, I also had altitude sickness and could only walk a few steps at a time, I was staggering about like a drunk.”

Disaster struck on the third day of their climb up the gruelling Machame route.

Barrister Mr Dalzell, who grew up near Stormont but now lives in Winchester, Hampshire, said: “It was absolutely horrific.

“I was in the marines for five years and did Arctic warfare training but nothing could prepare me for this. It was much more difficult and physically demanding than I expected.

“Jonny and I were very relieved to make it to the top on the fifth day. It was enjoyable retrospectively but at the time it wasn’t good craic at all.”

As temperatures plummeted, three of the porters, who were helping carry the trekkers’ equipment, fell ill and their condition rapidly worsened.

Mr Gibb said: “First I heard that three of the porters were ill and then the next day I heard they had died, I thought: ‘Flipping heck!’ It was horrendous and very sad really.”

But the police officer and Mr Dalzell, who did the trek as a money-raiser for a cancer charity, vowed to go through the pain barrier all the way to the top.

Mr Gibb dedicated the climb, for Macmillan Cancer Relief, to the memory of his mother Daphne, who lost her five-year battle against cancer in 1989 aged 36.

In preparation for the 13-day African trip he climbed Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh and the Cairngorm mountains in the Highlands.

Mr Gibb, who has been on holiday to the US and Canada since his win in May and was the second police officer to win Survivor’s top prize, said he had no plans for the future.

“I’m just relaxing and taking stock of things at the moment, I can go back to the police at any time and I certainly haven’t ruled out returning to the force,” he said.