A Fife woman trapped in Nepal during the devastating 2015 earthquake is to return to the country to trek to Everest Base Camp.
Ann Varney, from Kirkcaldy, was on holiday when the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck, killing more than 8,000 people.
She escaped from a temple as the ground shook but watched in horror as walls of buildings around her crumbled.
In her challenge next September she hopes to raise £60,000 to help children and adolescents struggling with mental illness.
Ann, 50, said: “This will be the first time I have been in Nepal since the earthquake and I am both excited and a little nervous about going back but I am ready to embrace the determination that is needed for climbing Everest.”
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Hypnotherapist Ann is to take on the hills and Munros of Scotland to build up her strength and enlist the support of a personal trainer to help keep her motivated.
Her mission will support the Children’s Meditation Hypnotherapy Centre, a non-profit organisation which she founded in Kirkcaldy just under a year ago.
Children can wait for months for mental health support on the NHS and Ann said she was astonished at the demand for the centre’s services, which she said provided hope families and children were desperate for.
She said: “I believe in pushing myself, especially for something I am very passionate about and that is helping children and young people transform their emotions into a more powerful states.
“The money raised from his climb will be fully invested in the centre and will allow us to extend our reach to more families, including those on lower incomes.”
They were the last ones out of the temple, which survived almost unscathed, but nearly 80% of homes in the valley collapsed or were badly damaged.
As surrounding roads were destroyed, she and her group had to be airlifted from the site to Kathmandu.
The earthquake also swept through the south base camp where Ann is headed, killing 19 people there.
Back in Fife, Ann raised money to send to the monastery which gave them food and shelter until they were rescued.
