For Dr Shaunna Burke, the top of the world came with exhaustion as well as relief.

The Addingham woman, who has incurable breast cancer, said she was “absolutely elated” after reaching the summit of Mount Everest on Saturday.

Burke, an exercise psychologist at the University of Leeds, was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2024 and underwent a double mastectomy, liver surgery and radiotherapy.

She previously climbed Everest in 2005 and said it had been an “incredible experience” to reach the summit for a second time.

“I’m absolutely elated, I’m over the moon and I guess as you can probably imagine I’m also physically quite tired,” she said.

Burke said the last couple of weeks had been quite “gruelling and taxing”.

She said climbing Everest had changed, and with more people wanting to take on the challenge there is “some crowding”.

“There’s a lot of strategy that goes into ensuring that you get the right window to be able to be successful.

“It’s more than just physical preparation and psychological preparation. There’s also strategy that goes into it to ensure you get that right weather window to be able to give yourself that chance of success.”

Burke spent the last 12 months preparing for the climb and said the thing she suffered from the most was the cold temperatures at night.

“It would be freezing cold, and when you’re in your tent and you’re not moving your body and you’re not getting the blood flowing through your body, it can be very, very, very, very cold,” she said.

She said she believed the cold may have been affected by the cancer drugs she takes.

“I do have some issues with body temperature, with fluctuations, with hot flushes and then also cold sensitivity.”

Burke, 50, is using the trip to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. She also ran the Everest Marathon last year.

She has previously climbed Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, Elbrus in Russia and Kilimanjaro in Africa.

She said one aim of the challenge was linked to her research into the impact of exercise on cancer and the impact of low oxygen on her cancer markers.

“I worked closely with Leeds Beckett University in preparation using their high altitude chamber to look to prepare myself for the effects of high altitude to make sure that I was well acclimated before going to the mountain,” she said.

Burke said the research into how her body adapted to the high altitude was based on one case study, but it meant she was able to train to mitigate against some of the effects of chemotherapy on her body before the climb.

She is due to return home in the next week and said she was most looking forward to getting into “a cosy, comfortable bed”.

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