This is the moment of triumph for Brentford Dock's Charles Hudd, one in which he proved to himself that he is fighting back from recent illness. He stands on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, looking tired but happy.
Charles, a well-known and popular character, decided to set off to Africa to demonstrate how a strict self-help regime had gone a long way to restoring his physical and mental strength.
He told us: 'To start with, I didn't know whether I'd be able to do it. There was an element of risk. I had been ill. But, as I got stronger, I needed to prove myself, I needed a challenge. I asked my doctor and he said I should do it but only if I really wanted to. I made a decision.
'It had always been one of my ambitions to climb Kilimanjaro. I flew to Tanzania and spent four days acclimatising.
Then hired some porters and started up the mountain. 'It was hard and demanding. The temperature dropped dramatically as we got higher and the air grew thinner. It sapped my strength but I told myself I had to keep going. We camped overnight and eventually, on the fifth day, I took those last few steps and reached the summit.
'It was an extremely gratifying moment. I'd proved something to myself. It was spectacular, standing there gazing out across a vast swathe of Africa. It's the kind of moment you never forget.'
Charles, an eminent urologist, then began the descent down Africa's highest mountain, which stands at 5,895 metres - or 19,298 feet - above sea level. 'In some ways,' he said, 'that was harder because I had damaged knees and they were hurting. Even the descent took two days and you can see from my face that I've become very tired. That was to be expected. I made it in the end - and received a signed certificate to say what I had done.'
During the climb Charles tapped out text messages to his friends in Brentford Dock, and elsewhere, giving an running commentary, on what he felt and what he saw, allowing others to share in his adventure.
Then he sailed across to Zanzibar and did some travelling.
As we go to press Charles is celebrating his 60th birthday with a skiing trip in the Alps and may repeat his climbing feat in the near future, this time to the 7000 metre Aconcagua mountain in the South American Andes.
