dwair

he acclimated to the altitude before he went up

That's because he was sensible and didn't want to risk high altitude pulmonary or cerebral oedema brought on by acute mountain sickness (AMS)

Unfortunately no amount of training will prevent this apart from altitude acclimatisation. Gaining altitude too quickly is a good way to give yourself a stroke - however fit you are

There is a reason why aircraft use piped air after all. It doesn't matter if you can sprint between 5km and 5.5km in your underwear, if you don't acclimatise, the fatty in a fur coat moving slowly runs a significantly lower risk of heath issues.

Source - high altitude mountaineer.

Also regarding your increased immunity - If you drank unboiled water on Kili, get a blood test done for parasites. Just because you didn't get the shits doesn't mean that you won't piss your kidneys out in a few years :)

It's cheaper for me to hire a car from Cornwall and drive to Bristol and fly to Marrakesh in Morrocco than it is to get on a train to London.

How far is your range from an A&E department? What sort of distance would you consider as a maximum?

(keep up the good work!)

Best of luck with the recovery. I went through the same 3 years ago at the age of 45 and bar a few issues with my meds along the way all is good.

My only advice would be to take the NHS recovery program with a pinch of salt and try and discuss what you can do with your cardiologist. As far as can see, its aimed at very unfit people with an average age of 75 and has left me more unfit than I have ever been in my life. Still, saying that I'm not complaining as 3 years later I'm fine.

people who live in really rural areas often still expect a fast response

Your not wrong there! I live well out into the sticks and find it amazing that we have any sort of service. I can remember talking to someone who was bitching that a response to a farm in the middle of no-where was slow. The place was miles from a main road and at the end of an unmarked 2 mile track across the moors.

Where I live, I guess there is always the debate as to how long it would take an ambulance to get here and if it would be quicker to drive someone yourself to hospital. I guess it cuts down on call outs that are not strictly necessary which is a good thing, however I know of a hell of a lot of kids that have been "home delivered" in a lay by.