A GP and army reservist from Kendal is training for the most demanding test of her career - as medic for a team taking on Mount Everest.

Major Kirsty Watson joined the Army Medical Corps when she was a medical student to earn some extra money, but never left. She now serves with Blackpool-based C Squadron of 208 Field Hospital.

In her civilian life Kirsty works as an associate specialist in the emergency department of Furness General Hospital in Barrow.

The 44-year-old specialises in mountain medicine and her work as an expedition doctor has seen her climb Kilimanjaro 11 times and volunteer in the emergency treatment centre at Everest base camp.

She admitted she has a huge responsibility on this expedition, saying: “You have to really know your team - that’s how you know if they are not well.

“So the things I will be looking out for are loss of appetite, feeling sick, feeling tired, going a bit slower than they normally would, headaches, and so on.”

Kirsty and her British Army team of regular and reserve soldiers have been put through their paces by sports scientists at Leeds Beckett University as they prepare to climb Everest’s notorious North Ridge.

The university experts were helping the team experience and acclimatise to the challenges of climbing at an extreme high altitude, by placing them in a low pressure chamber and monitoring their vital signs during exercise.