NI-based Everest expedition's base camp

The leader of a Northern Ireland-based team on an expedition to climb Mount Everest has been struck down with a debilitating high-altitude cough.

Richard Dougan has retreated to a Buddhist monastery on the lower slopes of the mountain to recover from severe tonsillitis and laryngitis.

Team doctor Stephen Synott was forced to abandon the climb last month after becoming dangerously ill, so Mr Dougan was treated by a Royal Navy medic.

"I developed a very very sore throat, brought on by excess coughing," he said.

"I developed laryngitis and basically my throat had swelled a lot.

"While I was climbing, I found it incredibly difficult to breathe so I came straight back down to base camp."

He was put on a course of antibiotics and said he would link up with the team at the advanced base camp as soon as that is completed on Saturday.

While I was climbing, I found it incredibly difficult to breathe so I came straight back down to base camp Richard Dougan

The team faced another setback, with a severe storm which has forced other expeditions to consider abandoning attempts to conquer the mountain.

Mr Dougan said the winds on Everest went far beyond anything he had experienced on other climbs throughout the world.

He said the team was worried that all its hard work could be undone with a single gust of wind.

"It is incredibly scary - you sit in your tent at night, holding the frame and praying to God it won't break," he said.

He said he hoped the team would reach the summit of Mount Everest by the last week in May, weather permitting.