Fly a plane, climb Mt Everest, explore Antarctica: How Dr Adrian McCallum became an engineer

Adrian left the strict confines of the cockpit and set out on a new course - studying navigation and meteorology with the Navy.

It was here, where another opportunity would present itself - an expedition up Mt Everest with the armed forces in 2001.

A trip that would prove life-changing for Adrian, for all the wrong reasons.

"We were in the Himalayas acclimatising, when there was an avalanche off a neighbouring mountain called Hiunchuli that killed five people," he said.

"Three of them were from our group. One of them was an eight-year-old girl called 'KC.' I was giving her piggybacks only a few days before."

For two days, Adrian and his party searched through the tonnes of fallen ice to find KC and her parents, to no avail.

Eventually a Himalayan rescue team found their bodies, and Adrian returned with the helicopter to retrieve them. He wanted to make sure they made it home.

"After that, some of our climbing group went home, while some of us continued up Everest in an attempt to honour their memories. But it affected us badly," he said.